BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 246|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 246
Author: Fuller (R)
Amended: 8/7/13
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/17/13
AYES: Wolk, Knight, Beall, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Hernandez, Liu
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 04/29/13 (Consent)
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Calderon, Cannella,
Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff,
Jackson, Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Monning, Nielsen, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Roth, Steinberg, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland,
Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/26/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency
SOURCE : Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency
DIGEST : This bill repeals the entire Desert View Water
District-Bighorn Mountains Water Agency Consolidation Law and
amends the Bighorn Mountains Water Agency Law to make it a more
modern, transparent, and functional statute.
Assembly Amendments add the requirement that the Bighorn-Desert
View Water Agency's (Agency) board of directors adopt an annual
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budget and set an annual appropriations limit, and make
clarifying and technical changes.
ANALYSIS : The Legislature created the Bighorn Mountains Water
Agency as a special act special district governed by the
uncodified "Bighorn Mountains Water Agency Law" (SB 1175
(Coombs, 1969)). To allow the Bighorn Mountains Water Agency to
merge with the Desert View Water District, which was governed by
the County Water District Law, the Legislature enacted the
Desert View Water District-Bighorn Mountains Water Agency
Consolidation Law (AB 1819 (Woodruff, Chapter 570, Statutes of
1989). The merged Agency provides retail water service to
residents within a 45-square mile area encompassing the San
Bernardino County communities of Flamingo Heights, Landers, and
Johnson Valley.
This bill repeals the Desert View Water District-Bighorn
Mountains Water Agency Consolidation Law and deletes
cross-references to the law from the Bighorn-Desert View Water
Agency's special act.
This bill requires the Agency to separately account for and use
funds derived from the operation of the Desert View Water
District and the Bighorn Mountains Water Agency for the purpose
of bond debt service for each of the former systems. This bill
declares that its provisions must not be construed to impair any
contract
entered into prior to January 1, 2014.
This bill reduces, from three months to 60 days, the period
during which legal actions can be initiated to contest,
question, or deny the validity of the Agency's bonds,
improvement districts, annexations, or other proceedings. This
bill allows the Agency to file legal actions, pursuant to
specified statutes in the Code of Civil Procedure, to determine
the validity of the Agency's bonds, warrants, promissory notes,
contracts, or other evidences of indebtedness.
This bill reduces, from six to three, the number of public
places in which the Agency must post specified hearing notices.
This bill requires the Agency's board of directors to adopt an
annual budget and set an annual appropriations limit.
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This bill deletes current statutory language governing
compensation for the Agency's board of directors. This bill
requires the Agency's board members to receive compensation for
attending board meetings that does not exceed the maximum amount
authorized by specified statutes that govern compensation for
water districts' directors.
This bill deletes current statutory language relating to
vacancies on the Agency's board of directors and specifies that
the Agency must fill vacancies on its board pursuant to
specified statutes in the Government Code.
This bill reorganizes current statutory language allowing the
Agency's board to appoint, define the duties of, and provide
compensation for specified offices. This bill prohibits the
board from appointing a sitting member of the board to one of
those offices. This bill deletes statutory language authorizing
the board to appoint a treasurer and to consolidate specified
offices.
This bill requires the Agency's board to adopt a resolution
specifying the date, time, and place of its meetings and deletes
conflicting and redundant statutory language relating to board
meetings.
This bill specifies that the Agency's board can act by minute
order and details specific notice, posting, and publication
procedures that the board must follow to adopt an ordinance.
This bill deletes current statutory language governing the
Agency's elections and allows the Agency's voter to pass an
initiative or disapprove of an ordinance by referendum subject
to specified statutes in the Elections Code.
This bill specifies that the Agency's powers include the power
to:
Construct, maintain, and operate water wells.
Construct, maintain, and operate property useful or
necessary to produce water.
Enlarge any waterworks or waterworks system acquired by the
Agency.
This bill deletes a requirement that the Agency's board regulate
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specified recreational facilities' use by adopting an ordinance.
This bill repeals language defining a violation of those
regulations as a misdemeanor. Instead, this bill makes a
violation of the specified regulations an infraction, punishable
by a fine of $300 or less.
This bill specifies that the Agency's board, to restrict the use
of water during a drought or water shortage, must comply with
specified statutes in the Water Code governing water shortage
emergencies. This bill deletes language defining a violation of
specified water restrictions as a misdemeanor and deletes other
related statutory language.
This bill deletes statutory language requiring the board to
adopt an ordinance to exercise specified powers related to
pensions.
This bill amends the current statute governing the Agency's
power to enter into contracts. This bill deletes a requirement
that the Agency must get 2/3-voter approval for specified
contracts that incur long-term debt.
This bill deletes current statutory language allowing the Agency
to incur debt, issue bonds and promissory notes, and impose
assessments. This bill authorizes the Agency to:
Borrow money, incur indebtedness, and issue bonds or other
evidences of indebtedness at an annual interest rate that
must not exceed 12%, pursuant to state law.
Refund or retire any indebtedness or lien against the agency
or its property.
Issue negotiable promissory notes that are general
obligations of the Agency payable from revenues and taxes in
the same manner as the Agency's bonds and subject to the same
12% annual interest rate limit, and requires the maturity of
the notes shall not be later than five years for the Agency
to issue negotiable promissory notes.
Cause taxes to be levied to pay the Agency's obligations,
subject to constitutional and statutory requirements.
To issue improvement bonds in accordance with and pursuant
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to the:
o Improvement Act of 1911
o Improvement Bond Act of 1915
o Municipal Improvement Act of 1913
o Refunding Assessment Bond Act of 1935
o Revenue Bond Law of 1941
This bill increases the maximum allowable annual interest rates
on debt issued by the Agency from 7% to 12%, pursuant to
specified statutes in the Government Code.
This bill allows the Agency to sell bonds through negotiated
sale or private sale subject to specified conditions. This bill
prohibits bonds from being sold for less than 94% of par value.
This bill replaces the term "bonded debt" with the term "debt"
in numerous places throughout the Bighorn-Desert View Water
Agency Law and deletes outdated references to bonds' interest
coupons.
This bill specifies the manner in which the Agency can record
liens for unpaid water service charges.
This bill clarifies that bond proceeds and surplus revenues from
water rates can be used to pay for replacement of the Agency's
works.
This bill renames the special act governing the Bighorn-Desert
View Water Agency as the "Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency Law."
Throughout the Law, this bill replaces the name "Bighorn
Mountains Water Agency" with "Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency."
This bill updates the statutory metes-and-bounds description of
the Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency's boundaries.
This bill deletes statutory language relating to a potential
future consolidation of the Bighorn Mountains Water Agency with
the Desert View Water Agency.
This bill makes numerous technical, non-substantive amendments
to the statutes governing the Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency
to conform the statutes to other changes made by this bill and
to modernize the statutory language. This bill includes
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findings and declarations that comply with existing law
requirements.
Comments
According to the author's office, this bill helps clarify and
reorganize the law that established the Bighorn-Desert View
Water District within San Bernardino County. This update and
modernization should provide more transparency and
accountability to ratepayers in that District.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/13)
Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency (source)
Association of California Water Agencies
Hi-Desert Water District
Mojave Water Agency
San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission
Special Districts Association
Twentynine Palms Water District
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/26/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy, Vacancy
AB:k 8/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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