Article 2. Standby Charges of California Water Code >> Division 20. >> Part 5. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 2.

The district by ordinance may, pursuant to the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code, fix on or before the third Monday of August, in each fiscal year, a water standby assessment or availability charge in the district, in any portion thereof, or in any improvement district, to which water is made available by the district, whether the water is actually used or not.

The standby assessment or availability charge shall not exceed ten dollars ($10) per acre per year for each acre of land on which the charge is levied or ten dollars ($10) per year for a parcel less than one acre.

Notwithstanding Section 71631, in any improvement district situated within the Eastern Municipal Water District, the Western Municipal Water District of Riverside County, the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, the Rincon Del Diablo Municipal Water District, the Ramona Municipal Water District, the Rainbow Municipal Water District, or the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, the standby assessment or availability charge shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30) per acre per year for land on which the charge is levied or thirty dollars ($30) per year for a parcel less than one acre. In any such improvement district, the proceeds from any standby assessment or availability charge in excess of ten dollars ($10) per acre per year or ten dollars ($10) per year for a parcel less than one acre shall only be used for the purposes of such improvement district. This section, applicable only to the Eastern Municipal Water District, the Western Municipal Water District of Riverside County, the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, the Rincon Del Diablo Municipal Water District, the Ramona Municipal Water District, the Rainbow Municipal Water District, and the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, is necessary because of the unique and special water management problems of those areas included within those districts.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 71631, in any improvement district situated within the Otay Municipal Water District in San Diego County, the standby assessment or availability charge shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30) per acre per year for land on which the charge is levied or ten dollars ($10) per year for a parcel less than one acre. In any such improvement district the proceeds from any standby assessment or availability charge in excess of ten dollars ($10) per acre per year shall only be used for the purposes of such improvement district. This section, applicable only to the Otay Municipal Water District of San Diego County is necessary because of the unique and special water management problems of the area included within such district.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 71631, for the San Luis Rey Municipal Water District, the standby assessment or availability charge shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30) per acre per year for land on which the charge is levied or thirty dollars ($30) per year for a parcel less than one acre. The proceeds from any standby assessment or availability charge shall only be used for the purposes of management of local water supply and its quality.
  (b) This section, applicable only to the San Luis Rey Municipal Water District, is necessary because of the unique and special water management problems of those areas included within that district.

The ordinance fixing a standby assessment or availability charge shall be adopted by the board pursuant to the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code and only after adoption of a resolution setting forth the particular schedule or schedules of charges or assessments proposed to be established by ordinance and after a hearing on said resolution. If the procedures set forth in this section as it read at the time a standby assessment or availability charge was established were followed, the board may, by ordinance, continue the charge pursuant to this article in successive years at the same rate. If new, increased, or extended assessments are proposed, the board shall comply with the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code.

The ordinance fixing a standby assessment or availability charge may establish schedules varying the charges according to land uses, water uses, and degree of water availability.

On or before the third Monday in August, the board shall furnish in writing to the board of supervisors and the county auditor of each affected county a description of each parcel of land within the district upon which a standby charge is to be levied and collected for the current fiscal year, together with the amount of standby charge fixed by the district on each parcel of land.

The board shall direct that, at the time and in the manner required by law for the levying of taxes for county purposes the board of supervisors shall levy, in addition to any other tax it levies, the standby charge in the amounts for the respective parcels fixed by the board.

All county officers charged with the duty of collecting taxes shall collect district standby charges with the regular tax payments to the county. Said charges shall be collected in the same form and manner as county taxes are collected, and shall be paid to the district.

Charges fixed by the district shall be a lien on all the property benefited thereby. Liens for said charges shall be of the same force and effect as other liens for taxes, and their collection may be enforced by the same means as provided for the enforcement of liens for state and county taxes.