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SB-1117 Hot Spring Valley Water District.(2007-2008)

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SB1117:v96#DOCUMENT

Senate Bill No. 1117
CHAPTER 615

An act to add Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 35521) to Part 5 of Division 13 of the Water Code, relating to the Hot Spring Valley Water District.

[ Approved by Governor  September 30, 2008. Filed with Secretary of State  September 30, 2008. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1117, Cox. Hot Spring Valley Water District.
(1) The California Water District Law provides for the establishment of water districts, and grants a district the power to acquire, plan, construct, maintain, improve, operate, and keep in repair the necessary works for the production, storage, transmission, and distribution of water for irrigation, domestic, industrial, and municipal purposes.
This bill would dissolve the Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District in the County of Modoc, and establish the Hot Spring Valley Water District in that county, which would succeed to, and be vested with, all the powers, duties, responsibilities, obligations, liabilities, and jurisdiction of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District. The bill would declare the Hot Spring Valley Water District to be, and require that the district be deemed, a California water district.
This bill would make legislative findings regarding the necessity of a special statute.
Because this bill would change the manner in which district elections are conducted by a local elections official, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) 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   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 35521) is added to Part 5 of Division 13 of the Water Code, to read:
CHAPTER  2.3. Provisions Pertaining Only to the Hot Spring Valley Water District

35521.
 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District in the County of Modoc is dissolved, and the Hot Spring Valley Water District is hereby formed in that county.
(b) The Hot Spring Valley Water District is declared to be, and shall be deemed, a water district as if the district had been formed pursuant to this division. The exterior boundary of the Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be the exterior boundary of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District.
(c) The Hot Spring Valley Water District succeeds to, and is vested with, all of the powers, duties, responsibilities, obligations, liabilities, and jurisdiction of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District.
(d) The status, position, and rights of any officer or employee of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall not be affected by the transfer and shall be retained by the person as an officer or employee of the Hot Spring Valley Water District.
(e) The Hot Spring Valley Water District shall have ownership, possession, and control of all of the books, records, papers, offices, equipment, supplies, moneys, funds, appropriations, licenses, permits, entitlements, agreements, contracts, claims, judgments, land, and other assets and property, real or personal, owned or leased by, connected with the administration of, or held for the benefit or use, of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District.
(f) The unexpended balance of any funds available for use by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall be available for use by the Hot Spring Valley Water District.
(g) No payment for the use, or right of use, of any property, real or personal, acquired or constructed by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall be required by reason of the succession pursuant to this act; nor shall any payment for the Hot Spring Valley Water District’s acquisition of the powers, duties, responsibilities, obligations, liabilities, and jurisdiction be required by reason of that succession.
(h) All ordinances, rules, and regulations adopted by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District in effect immediately preceding January 1, 2009, shall remain in effect and shall be fully enforceable unless readopted, amended, or repealed by the Hot Spring Valley Water District, or until they expire by their own terms. Any statute, law, rule, or regulation now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted or adopted with reference to the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall mean the Hot Spring Valley Water District.
(i) Any action by or against the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall not abate, but shall continue in the name of the Hot Spring Valley Water District, and the Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be substituted for the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District by the court in which the action is pending. The substitution shall not in any way affect the rights of the parties to the action.
(j) No contract, lease, license, permit, entitlement, bond, or any other agreement to which the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District is a party shall be void or voidable by reason of this act, but shall continue in effect, with the Hot Spring Valley Water District assuming all of the rights, obligations, liabilities, and duties of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District. Bonds issued by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall become the indebtedness of the Hot Spring Valley Water District. Any continuing obligations or responsibilities of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District for managing and maintaining bond issuances shall be transferred to the Hot Spring Valley Water District without impairment to any security contained in the bond instrument.
(k) (1) Notwithstanding Section 35003, each voter of the Hot Spring Valley Water District, as defined by Section 34027, shall be entitled to cast only one vote, regardless of the value, acreage, or number of parcels of the voter’s land within the district.
(2) Voting in the Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be by electoral divisions in accordance with Article 2 (commencing with Section 35025) of Chapter 1 of Part 4. The Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be divided into the same electoral divisions, with the same division boundaries, as those established within the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District. Members of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District Board of Directors who are serving on January 1, 2009, may continue to serve the balance of their current terms of office, representing the same electoral divisions, as members of the Board of Directors of the Hot Spring Valley Water District.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique circumstances of the Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District in the County of Modoc. The facts constituting the special circumstances are:
The Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District has few registered voters who are both eligible and willing to hold office as members of the district’s board of directors. Rather than create a new special exception to the Irrigation District Law and permit landowners to vote and hold office on an irrigation district’s board of directors, the Legislature prefers to convert the Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District into a California water district which is governed pursuant to a principal act that allows landowners to vote and hold office. Rather than require local officials, residents, and landowners to spend several months implementing the statutory procedures necessary for the concurrent dissolution of an irrigation district and the formation of a California water district, the Legislature prefers to order this reorganization directly.

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.