BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 171
Author: Hueso (D)
Amended: 4/8/13
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-1, 5/8/13
AYES: Wolk, Beall, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Hernandez, Liu
NOES: Knight
SUBJECT : Coachella Valley Water District: property related
fees
SOURCE : Coachella Valley Water District
DIGEST : This bill allows Coachella Valley Water District to
levy property related fees to pay for constructing, operating,
improving and maintaining the District's public works.
ANALYSIS : Proposition 218 (1996) defined a property-related
fee or charge as any levy other than an ad valorem tax, a
special tax, or an assessment imposed by an agency on a parcel
or a person as an incident of property ownership, including a
user fee or charge for a property-related service.
Before a local government can charge a new property-related fee,
or increase an existing fee, Proposition 218 requires local
officials to:
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Identify the parcels to be charged.
Calculate the fee for each parcel.
Notify the parcels' owners in writing about the fees and the
hearing.
Hold a public hearing to consider and count protests.
Abandon the fees if a majority of the parcels' owners
protest.
New or increased property-related fees also require:
A majority-vote of the affected property owners.
Two-thirds registered voter approval.
Weighted ballot approval by the affected property owners.
The election requirements do not apply to property-related fees
for sewer, water, or refuse collection services.
This bill authorizes the Coachella Valley Water District to
impose a fee or charge to pay for constructing, operating,
improving and maintaining the District's public works in
compliance with Article XIII D of the California Constitution.
This bill clarifies that the Coachella Valley Water District's
benefit assessments must comply with the state laws that
implement Proposition 218, including majority vote threshold
requirements.
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Comments
The Coachella Valley Water District covers more than 1,000
square miles, and there is only one drainage system in the Lower
Coachella Valley that handles stormwater, agricultural drainage,
and now urban drainage. The system was originally constructed
by the Bureau of Reclamation to manage storm flows and
agricultural drainage, but urban development that is moving into
the Lower Valley also uses the system. Operation and
maintenance costs of the system are currently paid by the
farmers in the Lower Valley. As farm areas are urbanized, the
number of farmers has decreased while urban drainage has driven
costs up. The current fee structure has caused shortages in
funding for operations and maintenance and is unsustainable as
agricultural contributions continue to decline.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/9/13)
Coachella Valley Water District (source)
City of Mirage
Desert Valleys Builders Association
Noble & Company
AB:d 5/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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