BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 561
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 561 (Gorell) - As Amended: April 4, 2011
SUBJECT : Ventura County Watershed Protection District:
indebtedness.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Ventura County Watershed Protection
District (District) to borrow money and incur indebtedness to
finance the construction and reconstruction of District
facilities and specifies that each loan incurred shall be
authorized by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of the
board of supervisors.
EXISTING LAW establishes the District and gives the District
various powers including the power to incur indebtedness and to
issue bonds.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)Existing law establishes the Ventura County Watershed
Protection District. The purposes of the District are to
provide flood control within the District and to provide
protection against flood water that originates outside the
District but flows into the District. The District is also
authorized to conserve flood water for beneficial use. The
District may capture flood water for groundwater recharge.
The District may also conserve flood water in any manner that
protects life and property.
2)Since the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have
embarked on a comprehensive evaluation of flood control
infrastructure on a national, state-wide, and local level.
Through this joint technical assessment and re-evaluation
process with our federal partners, the District has identified
more than $200 million of flood protection capital projects
which need to be designed and built to protect more than $8
billion of property and improvements in Ventura County alone.
Flooding in Ventura County adversely affects thousands of
residents and disrupts major regional transportation
AB 561
Page 2
corridors, hindering the vitality and growth of our
communities.
Currently the District, like many other agencies, does not
have the revenues in hand to move forward with many of the
identified critical infrastructure improvements. Based on the
current language of the District Act, it appears to provide
the District Board the discretion to incur debt only after the
existence of an emergency is declared. The District Board
needs the ability to leverage current revenues through
borrowing to re-construct its flood control facilities to
proactively prevent damage; not wait until the damage has
occurred which increases the cost of reconstruction and unduly
burdens taxpaying constituents.
In January of 2009, the National Committee on Levee Safety
issued a draft report which recommended establishing the
National Levee Rehabilitation, Improvement, and Flood
Mitigation Fund to aid in the rehabilitation, improvement or
removal of deficient levees.
Although the National Committee did not define the mechanism
to be used to provide this aid, a portion of this aid could be
set up as a revolving loan program. The District needs the
ability to react quickly to apply for state and federal
borrowing opportunities which may provide low and no interest
loans for levee rehabilitation work, further leveraging
existing revenues.
3)Support arguments: Supporters argue that having clear
discretion to incur indebtedness to prevent flood damages from
occurring is the best way to provide flood protection sooner
than later.
Opposition arguments: Opposition could argue that the
District's enabling Act already allows for the District to
incur indebtedness and that the provisions of this measure are
not necessary.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Calleguas Municipal Water District
AB 561
Page 3
Ventura County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958