BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 561
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 561 (Gorell and Smyth)
As Amended April 4, 2011
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 7-0
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|Ayes:|Smyth, Alejo, Bradford, | | |
| |Campos, Davis, Gordon, | | |
| |Norby | | |
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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 : 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.
Since the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and the United States 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
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billion of property and improvements in Ventura County alone.
Flooding in Ventura County adversely affects thousands of
residents and disrupts major regional transportation 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.
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
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