California-2013-AB1156-Amended

BILL NUMBER: AB 1156	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 27, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 29, 2013
	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
District 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   law, the Palo Verde
Irrigation District Act,  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 floodwaters of the
Colorado River. Existing law  requires  entitles
 any person, firm, or corporation  which  
that  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  instead  entitle a person, firm, or
corporation that owns land to vote at the specified elections. This
bill would entitle each property owner to one vote for every one acre
of land owned, as specified. 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.  
   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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: 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 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 floodwaters from the river, their swamplands
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
floodwaters from the river, and to reclaim swamplands 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 swamplands, and financing
the development of the valley by the means herein provided.
  SEC. 2.  Section 6 of the Palo Verde Irrigation District 
Act   (Chapter   Act (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 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 acre owned. If a property
owner owns less than one acre of land,  but at least one-half
of an acre of land,  the property owner shall be entitled
to cast one vote.
   (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. 
   SEC. 3.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district are the result of a program for which
legislative authority was requested by that local agency or school
district, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code
and Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.