BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2554|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2554
Author: Brownley (D)
Amended: 8/5/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/30/10
AYES: Kehoe, DeSaulnier, Price
NOES: Cox, Aanestad
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-28, 6/1/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Los Angeles County Flood Control District:
fees and charges
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Los Angeles County
Flood Control District to impose a fee or charge, anywhere
in the District's territory, in compliance with Article
XIII Dof the California Constitution, to pay the cost and
expenses of carrying out projects and providing services
authorized under existing law.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/5/10 allow the District to
impose fees inside cities and specify how to allocate fee
revenues.
ANALYSIS : The Los Angeles County Flood Control District
is a special act special district that provides flood
control and water quality services to 85 cities and most of
CONTINUED
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the unincorporated area in Los Angeles County. Governed ex
officio by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the
District has statutory authorization to levy ad valorem
taxes and assessments.
The Legislature has authorized counties, cities, sanitary
districts, county sanitation districts, sewer maintenance
districts, and other districts responsible for sanitary
sewers and sewerage systems to impose fees in connection
with storm drainage services and facilities (SB 682, Mello,
Chapter 1110, Statutes of 1991). In 2005, the Legislature
authorized the Ventura County Watershed Protection District
to impose property related fees to fund storm drainage
services and facilities (AB 554, Nava, Chapter 510,
Statutes of 2005).
This bill authorizes the Los Angeles County Flood Control
District to impose a fee or charge anywhere within the
District's territory, in compliance with Article XIII D of
the California Constitution, to pay the costs and expenses
of the District and to carry out the purposes of the
district.
This bill requires the fees to be collected with county
taxes. The revenues must be paid into the county treasury
to District's credit. The board of supervisors may spend
the funds to pay for the District's costs.
This bill requires the District to allocate revenues from
the fee or charge as follows:
1.10 percent to the District to implement and administer
water quality programs and to pay the District's costs
for levying and collecting the fee and distributing
revenues.
2.40 percent to Los Angeles County and to the cities within
the District, divided proportionally among each
jurisdiction, to be expended for water quality
improvement programs.
3.50 percent to nine watershed authority groups that the
District must authorize by ordinance, divided
proportionally among each watershed, to implement
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collaborative water quality improvement plans or programs
in the watersheds.
This bill requires nine watershed authority groups to be
established under the Joint Exercise of Powers Act for the
following watersheds: Ballona Creek, Dominguez Channel,
Upper Los Angeles River, Lower Los Angeles River, Rio
Hondo, Upper San Gabriel River, Lower San Gabriel River,
Santa Clara River, and Santa Monica Bay.
This bill specifies that implementation of a watershed
authority group's collaborative water quality plan or
program requires the consent of any member agency whose
jurisdiction comprises more than 40 percent of the total
land area in a watershed.
This bill requires the District's governing board to adopt
an ordinance to implement its fee authority.
The bill makes other technical amendments to the District's
authorizing statutes.
Comments
The Los Angeles County Flood Control District covers more
than 3,000 square miles and includes the vast majority of
drainage infrastructure within incorporated and
unincorporated Los Angeles County. Storm water and urban
runoff drain into the District's system and ultimately into
the Pacific Ocean, carrying trash, bacteria, and other
pollutants. Aging infrastructure, increasingly stringent
clean water laws, and unmet drainage needs require the
District to invest in costly flood protection, water
quality, and water conservation projects that threaten to
overwhelm its existing revenue stream. This bill gives the
District, with voter approval, a stable and long-term
revenue stream for constructing and maintaining watershed
management projects.
Prior Legislation
AB 564 (Brownley), 2008, would have authorized the Los
Angeles County Flood Control District to charge property
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related fees throughout the district, died on the Senate
Floor.
AB 139 (Brownley), 2009, would have also authorized the
District to charge property-related fees, was never heard
by a policy committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/9/10)
County of Los Angeles
Association of California Water Agencies
California State Association of Counties
Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council
Los Angeles Stormwater Quality Partnership
Tree People
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/9/10)
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A.
Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V.
Manuel Perez, Silva, Smyth, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Solorio, Audra Strickland
AGB:nl 8/10/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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