AB 1156, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Palo Verde Irrigation District Act.
Existing law establishes the Palo Verde Irrigation District Act with the purpose of, among other things, providing a unified and comprehensive method of supplying the district, as defined, with water for irrigation and domestic uses and protecting lands within the district from flood waters of the Colorado River. Existing law requires any person, firm, or corporation which owns, or has any interest in, real property or improvements on real property, or both, whose interest or ownership is assessed on the last preceding equalized assessment roll of the district be entitled to vote at certain elections related to the district. The act entitles a property owner to one vote for every $100 of assessed valuation on the equalized assessment roll, as specified.
This bill would entitle a person, firm, or corporation that owns land, or any interest in land, whose interest is assessed on the preceding equalized assessment roll of the district to vote at the specified elections. Ths bill would entitle each property owner to one vote for every $100 of assessed value of land, not including improvements, on the equalized assessment roll.begin insert This bill, by requiring the district to hold a public hearing regarding these changes to the weighted voted system, as prescribed, would impose a state-mandated local program.end insert
begin insertThe California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
end insertVote: majority.
Appropriation: no.
Fiscal committee: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert.
State-mandated local program: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 1 of the Palo Verde Irrigation District
2Actbegin insert (Chapter 452 of the Statutes of 1923)end insert is amended to read:
(a) The State of California and the peoplebegin delete thereofend delete
4begin insert of the stateend insert are hereby declared to have a primary and supreme
5interest in securing to the inhabitants and owners of the
6low-irrigable lands within what is known as the “Palo Verde
7
Valley,” in Riverside and Imperial Counties, the greatest possible
8use, conservationbegin insert,end insert and protection of the waters of the Colorado
9River to the extent that the same may be lawfully diverted to their
10lands, to the end that their water system, land, structures, and other
11properties may be protected from overflow of the flood waters
12from the river, their swamp lands drained, and thereby the greatest
13productivity of the largest possible area may be accomplished and
14safely carried on within reasonable limits of economy.
15(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following:
16(1) That as a special district, the purpose of the Palo Verde
17Irrigation District is to secure to the
district’s landowners and
18inhabitants the greatest possible use, conservation, and protection
19of the waters of the Colorado River, to protect their water system,
20land, structures, and other properties from overflow of the flood
21waters from the river, and to reclaim swamp lands and thereby
22promote the greatest productivity of the largest possible area of
23land within reasonable limits of safety and the economy.
24(2) That the owners of land in the Palo Verde Irrigation District
25enjoy distinct benefits flowing as a result of the district’s declared
P3 1purpose, and absorb specific costs related to this purpose, in the
2form of assessments against land and water charges, and that these
3landowners are therefore substantially affected by, and directly
4interested in, the district’s governance.
5(c) Investigation having shown conditions in the Palo Verde
6Valley to be peculiar to that valley, it is hereby declared that a
7general law cannot be applicable thereto, and the enactment of this
8special law is therefore necessary for the proper distribution and
9use of the waters available for the valley, the protection of the
10valley against inundation, the reclamation of the swamp lands, and
11financing the development of the valley by the means herein
12provided.
Section 6 of the Palo Verde Irrigation District Actbegin delete is end delete
14begin insert(Chapter 452 of the Statutes of 1923), asend insert amended begin insertby Section 1 of
15Chapter 583 of the Statutes of 1927, is amendedend insert to read:
begin insert(a)end insertbegin insert end insert Any person, firm, or corporation that owns land
17or any interest in
land whose interest or ownership, not including
18improvements on the land, is assessed on the last preceding
19equalized assessment roll of the district (and only the owners of
20land so assessed) shall be entitled to vote at any election, special
21or general, for the election of trustees, or for any other purpose
22pertaining to the affairs of the district. Each property owner
23qualified to vote shall be entitled to cast one vote for every one
24hundred dollars ($100) or fraction thereof greater than fifty dollars
25($50) of assessed value of land, not including improvements on
26the land, on the equalized assessment roll of the district last
27preceding the holding of the election. In determining the total
28number of votes any voter is entitled to cast, the total assessed
29value of all parcels of the land owned by the voter shall be divided
30by 100, and the quotient shall determine the number
of votes.
31(b) (1) The district shall hold a public hearing regarding the
32changes to the weighted voting system pursuant to subdivision (a).
33(2) Notice of the public hearing shall be given by placing a
34display advertisement at least one-eighth page in a newspaper of
35general circulation for three weeks, pursuant to Section 6063 of
36the Government Code, and by United States first-class mail to
37each landowner voter in the district, postage prepaid, and notice
38shall be deemed given when deposited in the mail. The envelope
39or cover of the mailing shall include the name of
the local agency
P4 1and the return address of the sender and the mailed notice shall
2be in at least 10-point type.
3(3) The public hearing shall be held at least 45 days after
4mailing the notice pursuant to paragraph (2).
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
6this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
7local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
8pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
94 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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