Background on Proposition 218 Election and Assessment Engineers Report

    At the February 9, 2006, Zone 1/1A Advisory Committee meeting, SLO County Public Works staff  presented a tentative timeline for the proposed Proposition 218 election.  This election, which would fund future Arroyo Grande Creek flood control channel maintenance activities, is scheduled to be conducted by hearing and mail-in ballot this spring.  Ballots are tentatively scheduled to be mailed to property owners on April 10, and a public hearing will be held on June 6, 2006, at which time the ballots that have been received will be counted.  In order to pass, the Prop 218 ballot measure must receive 50% + 1 of the votes; the votes are weighted according to the fees paid by the property owner, so the vote counting is rather more complicated than at a regular election; this process will be explained in the ballot provided to each property owner (and will be posted here when available).

    If the Prop 218 ballot is successful, then the SLO County Board of Supervisors (technically operating as the Board of the SLO County Flood Control and Water Conservation District for this purpose) has agreed to rescind its request to the State Department of Water Resources (DWR) to take over maintenance of the channel in July 2006.

    If the Prop 218 ballot is unsuccessful, then relinquishment to DWR will proceed as scheduled.  Assessment rates under DWR will be significantly higher than those under the proposed Prop 218 election for a number of reasons.  The complete list of draft assessment rates for the first year under DWR are available at http://www.slocountypwd.org/Preliminary_MSA18_Assessment_list.pdf.  For example, for the first year under DWR, a single-family residence would pay $846.37.  After the first year, the rates would double, according to DWR's Statement of Necessary Work, so that a single family residence would pay almost $1700/year.  After five years, the rates under DWR might decrease, but only if the projected maintenance costs decrease.  For additional background information about the County's relinquishment of AG Creek flood channel maintenance to DWR, click here.

Assessment Engineer's Report

    To determine who would benefit from AG Creek flood channel maintenance paid for by the proposed Proposition 218 assessments, the County hired Cannon Asssociates, a San Luis Obispo engineering firm, to produce the required "assessment engineer's report".  This report describes which properties will receive "special benefit" from the Prop 218 assessments; put very simply, "special benefit" in this case means "those people who will get wet if the proposed flood channel maintenance activities are not performed."  (For further information about the Prop 218 process, click here.)  On the recommendation of the Zone 1/1A Advisory Committee Task Force (which consists of representatives from the Advisory Committee, community members, and other stakeholders), Cannon Associates based their analysis on an assumed total annual assessment of $350,000/year, with a goal of implementing flood channel management measures similar to those presented in Alternative 3A of the "Arroyo Grande Creek Erosion, Sedimentation and Flooding Alternatives Study", which would provide protection against the 16.6-year flood.

    Cannon completed the Assessment Engineer's Report in March 2006.  This report includes background about Zone 1/1A and the Proposition 218 election, as well as the assessment rate table showing the proposed assessment fees for each property, sorted by APN, and a map showing the boundaries of the proposed assessment district (note that the assessment district boundaries have changed slightly from those in earlier drafts, especially near Los Berros Creek).  Under this plan, the annual assessment rate for a single family residence will be $390.28/year, and the Prop 218 ballot language will specify that these rates will not increase in subsequent years by more than 3% per year.