Bill Text: CA AB1156 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Palo Verde Irrigation District Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-09-06 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 245, Statutes of 2013. [AB1156 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1156-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1156	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 13, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend Sections 1 and 6 of the Palo Verde Irrigation Act
(Chapter 452 of the Statutes of 1923), relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1156, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Palo Verde Irrigation
District Act.
   Existing law establishes the Palo Verde Irrigation District Act
with the purpose of, among other things, providing a unified and
comprehensive method of supplying the district, as defined, with
water for irrigation and domestic uses and protecting lands within
the district from flood waters of the Colorado River. Existing law
requires any person, firm, or corporation which owns, or has any
interest in, real property or improvements on real property, or both,
whose interest or ownership is assessed on the last preceding
equalized assessment roll of the district be entitled to vote at
certain elections related to the district. The act entitles a
property owner to one vote for every $100 of assessed valuation on
the equalized assessment roll, as specified.
   This bill would entitle a person, firm, or corporation that owns
land, or any interest in land, whose interest is assessed on the
preceding equalized assessment roll of the district to vote at the
specified elections. Ths bill would entitle each property owner to
one vote for every $100 of assessed value of land, not including
improvements, on the equalized assessment roll.  This bill, by
requiring the district to hold a public hearing regarding these
changes to the weighted voted system, as prescribed, would impose a
state-mandated local program.  
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program:  no
  yes  .


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1 of the Palo Verde Irrigation District Act
 (Chapter 452 of the Statutes of 1923)  is amended to read:
  Section 1.  (a) The State of California and the people 
thereof   of the state  are hereby declared to have
a primary and supreme interest in securing to the inhabitants and
owners of the low-irrigable lands within what is known as the "Palo
Verde Valley," in Riverside and Imperial Counties, the greatest
possible use, conservation  ,  and protection of the waters
of the Colorado River to the extent that the same may be lawfully
diverted to their lands, to the end that their water system, land,
structures, and other properties may be protected from overflow of
the flood waters from the river, their swamp lands drained, and
thereby the greatest productivity of the largest possible area may be
accomplished and safely carried on within reasonable limits of
economy.
   (b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following:
   (1) That as a special district, the purpose of the Palo Verde
Irrigation District is to secure to the district's landowners and
inhabitants the greatest possible use, conservation, and protection
of the waters of the Colorado River, to protect their water system,
land, structures, and other properties from overflow of the flood
waters from the river, and to reclaim swamp lands and thereby promote
the greatest productivity of the largest possible area of land
within reasonable limits of safety and the economy.
   (2) That the owners of land in the Palo Verde Irrigation District
enjoy distinct benefits flowing as a result of the district's
declared purpose, and absorb specific costs related to this purpose,
in the form of assessments against land and water charges, and that
these landowners are therefore substantially affected by, and
directly interested in, the district's governance.
   (c) Investigation having shown conditions in the Palo Verde Valley
to be peculiar to that valley, it is hereby declared that a general
law cannot be applicable thereto, and the enactment of this special
law is therefore necessary for the proper distribution and use of the
waters available for the valley, the protection of the valley
against inundation, the reclamation of the swamp lands, and financing
the development of the valley by the means herein provided.
  SEC. 2.  Section 6 of the Palo Verde Irrigation District Act
 is   (Chapter 452 of the Statutes of 1923), as
 amended  by Section 1 of Chapter 583 of the Statutes of
1927, is amended  to read:
  Sec. 6.   (a)    Any person, firm, or corporation
that owns land or any interest in land whose interest or ownership,
not including improvements on the land, is assessed on the last
preceding equalized assessment roll of the district (and only the
owners of land so assessed) shall be entitled to vote at any
election, special or general, for the election of trustees, or for
any other purpose pertaining to the affairs of the district. Each
property owner qualified to vote shall be entitled to cast one vote
for every one hundred dollars ($100) or fraction thereof greater than
fifty dollars ($50) of assessed value of land, not including
improvements on the land, on the equalized assessment roll of the
district last preceding the holding of the election. In determining
the total number of votes any voter is entitled to cast, the total
assessed value of all parcels of the land owned by the voter shall be
divided by 100, and the quotient shall determine the number of
votes. 
   (b) (1) The district shall hold a public hearing regarding the
changes to the weighted voting system pursuant to subdivision (a).
 
   (2) Notice of the public hearing shall be given by placing a
display advertisement at least one-eighth page in a newspaper of
general circulation for three weeks, pursuant to Section 6063 of the
Government Code, and by United States first-class mail to each
landowner voter in the district, postage prepaid, and notice shall be
deemed given when deposited in the mail. The envelope or cover of
the mailing shall include the name of the local agency and the return
address of the sender and the mailed notice shall be in at least
10-point type.  
   (3) The public hearing shall be held at least 45 days after
mailing the notice pursuant to paragraph (2).  
  SEC. 3.    If the Commission on State Mandates determines
that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.