BILL ANALYSIS
Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
997 (Dickerson)
Hearing Date: 8/22/02 Amended: As proposed to be
Amended
Consultant: Miriam B. Ingenito Policy Vote:
N/A
____________________________________________________________
___
BILL SUMMARY: AB 997 would establish the Sierra Nevada
Conservancy (SNC) within the Resources Agency, but would
declare that most of its provisions would not be operative
without either (1) direct appropriation by the Legislature or
(2) funding in a bond act for those purposes.
Fi
sc
al
Im
pa
ct
(i
n
th
ou
sa
nd
s)
Ma
jo
r
Pr
ov
is
io
ns
20
02
-0
3
20
03
-0
4
20
04
-0
5
Fu
nd
St
ar
t-
up
Co
st
s
$5
00
$5
00
GF
On
go
in
g
SN
C
Co
st
s
$6
55
$5
,5
00
GF
At
to
rn
ey
Ge
ne
ra
l
Co
st
s
< $
81
< $
81
GF
Gr
an
ts
,
Ac
qu
is
it
io
ns
Un
kn
ow
n,
po
te
nt
ia
ll
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te
ns
of
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ll
io
ns
GF
/B
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ng
oi
ng
Ma
na
ge
me
nt
Co
st
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___
__
__
__
__
_
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(a
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me
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)
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On
go
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te
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at
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of
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ul
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pe
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it
ur
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nd
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om
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nd
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s.
STAFF COMMENTS: Suspense file. AB 997 was amended on
suspense and the contents of AB 1130 are proposed to be
inserted into it. This analysis reflects the proposed
amendments.
Based on the recent start up costs of other conservancies,
and the relative size of the proposed SNC, staff estimates
start-up costs to be around $1 million. In order to fully
implement AB 997, SNC would initially need approximately 6
positions, or about $480,000 in salaries and benefits. This
would include an executive officer, an executive secretary,
and probably a land agent, program manager, grant
administrator and general administrator. Given its size and
authorized programs, SNC would probably ultimately be the
approximate size of the State Coastal Conservancy, which has
about 60 positions and $5.5 million in annual operations. In
addition to staffing, other ongoing costs for basic operation
would be in excess of $175,000 to cover rent, utilities,
travel, mailings, and board member compensation. These
costs would likely be higher given the likely need to create
multiple offices within the jurisdiction.
All state conservancies are assigned a Deputy Attorney
General from the Land Law Section of the Attorney General's
(AG's) office. These attorneys provide legal advice to the
board and ensure that the meetings are run in compliance with
the open meeting acts. STAFF NOTES that when the San Gabriel
and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy was
established, it required three-quarters of an experienced
Deputy AG's time; once a conservancy is established, the
Deputy AG's required time declines significantly. With each
new conservancy,
Page 2 (AB 997)
the workload for the AG's office increases. Costs for this
conservancy may be absorbable, but it is at the cost of other
work in the Land Law Section.
AB 997 would authorize the SNC to provide grants and acquire
and manage lands, among other things, creating a significant
cost pressure to the General Fund, various special funds, and
future bond issuance. Proposition 40 allocated at least $40
million to each of the seven existing conservancies.
Assuming future bonds would include a $40 million set-aside
for the SNC, interest costs to the General Fund would be $26
million.
STAFF NOTES that on August 7, 2002, the Department of Finance
issued a Budget Letter directing all state agencies to
prepare reduction plans of 20 percent from the 2002-2003
spending level. In light of these cuts, AB 997 would make
almost the entire bill inoperative until the Legislature
appropriates funds or a bond act is passed that specifically
allocates funds for this purpose. STAFF NOTES that the
California Tahoe Conservancy was created in a similar
fashion. AB 997 would enable the members of the board to be
appointed and the fund to be established. In doing so, it
enables the conservancy to accept non-state funds as
donations and allows the board to convene (without
compensation) to establish guidelines, procedures, adopt
ethics codes, and take care of other administrative functions
that must be done prior to a conservancy actually funding
projects.