This notice regards:
Items to Note
Special Benefit Assessment Renewal Ballots and Information
Landowners should have received ballots this week for the proposed renewal of the District’s Special Benefit Assessment. The current assessment was approved by landowners in 2017 for a 10-year term and is nearing expiration. If approved, the renewed assessment would take effect in fiscal year 2027-28. The District encourages landowners to review the ballot materials and the additional information available on the District’s Prop 218 Info webpage, including the Engineer’s Report and a full workshop presentation explaining the proposed assessment, how it was developed, and how it would affect District charges.
Key Points About the Proposed Renewal
The proposed Special Benefit Assessment would continue to fund District activities and services that provide benefits to assessed lands. An important point for landowners is that the proposed assessment is not designed to increase total District revenue. Much of the increase in the proposed assessment reflects moving costs into the Special Benefit Assessment that are currently being collected through other District rates and charges.
Under the proposed approach:
USBR Capital Repayment Debt Service Land-Based Charge: Currently collected from applicable lands would be eliminated, with the associated CVP construction debt service instead funded through the assessment. (Approx. $26.14 per-acre this year before interest offset)
State Water Resources Control Board Water Rights Fee: Currently collected from water rates, it would be moved to the assessment and would reduce the FY 2027 initial variable water rate on Contract Water by approximately $7.53 per acre-foot.
Operations & Maintenance: Approximately $3.82 per acre-foot of O&M costs currently being recovered through the variable water rate because the existing benefit assessment does not fully fund the eligible fixed O&M costs. These costs would instead be funded through the renewed assessment.
Golden Mussel: Currently collected through O&M, the current budget includes approximately $2.05 per acre-foot, for Golden Mussel-related costs. Because Golden Mussels are a relatively new and uncertain threat to District water infrastructure, the proposed assessment provides approximately $2.7 million for future Golden Mussel maintenance and response activities, which would have amounted to $6.70 per acre-foot if included in O&M this year.
The proposed assessment rates are maximum authorized rates. Each year, the Board of Directors would determine the amount actually needed to fund eligible costs and may adopt assessment rates below the authorized maximum if actual funding needs are lower.
Because protecting the District’s water conveyance system provides a benefit to the lands served by that system, the proposed assessment includes an element associated with these activities. This provides a mechanism to recover these system-protection costs from benefited lands rather than placing the entire burden on water delivered in a particular year through variable water rates.
Learn More
Landowners are encouraged to review the complete workshop presentation and other Proposition 218 materials available on the District’s website. These materials provide additional detail regarding the assessment methodology, proposed rates, the shifting of existing costs into the assessment, and the Golden Mussel component.
The public hearing and ballot tabulation will be held December 15, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Ballots must be received before the close of the public hearing.
No. 824