Board approves tourism-district management agreement despite legal challenge
Loading...
Summary
The Amador County Board of Supervisors voted 4–1 to approve an administrative agreement with the Amador Council of Tourism transferring collected assessments to ACT, after public comment arguing the underlying district formation omitted a required list of assessed businesses under Streets & Highways Code §36622.
The Amador County Board of Supervisors voted 4–1 to approve an administrative operating agreement with the Amador Council of Tourism that would transfer future collected assessments to ACT for marketing activities.
The vote came after Terry Sweet, a member of the public, argued the management district plan that established the tourism improvement district failed to list the businesses to be assessed, citing Streets and Highways Code §36622. "As the management district plan did not list the businesses to be assessed, the establishment of the district is not valid," Sweet told the board and asked the agreement not be executed.
County staff and counsel responded that the agreement governs the administrative transfer of assessments and is separate from the legal establishment of the district, and that businesses were notified by type during formation. Unidentified county counsel said the district "exists" and has not been legally challenged, and described the agreement as defining how collected assessments will be transferred to ACT to implement approved marketing activities.
After the exchange, the board voted to approve the agreement with one supervisor recorded as opposed; no mover or seconder was recorded in the transcript. The board indicated assessments have not yet begun and that the agreement will take effect when collections start.
The board also asked staff to clarify the record-keeping and expectations around assessment collection and ACT's duties. The public challenge raised by Sweet remains an unresolved legal point on the record: Sweet contends the district's establishment lacked the mandatory list of assessed properties; staff says that absence does not invalidate the separate agreement and that the district was established and is in effect.
Next steps identified by the board included finalizing administrative procedures for transferring collected funds to ACT and monitoring any formal legal challenge to the district's formation.
