Mid Kings River GSA accepts Prop. 218 engineers report, sets Sept. 29 hearings for land assessment and pumping fee

The Mid Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency on July 28 accepted an updated Proposition 218 engineers report and a separate Proposition 26 cost-of-service study and set two public hearings for Sept. 29, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. — one for the Prop. 218 land-based assessment election and a second for the Prop. 26 pumping fee.

Lynn Groundwater, a consultant presenting the reports, said the Prop. 218 assessment would include nearly all parcels inside the GSA boundary, excluding roughly 30 acres with missing owner data and typical public parcels such as schools, parks and cemeteries. "With those 4 exclusion categories, almost 92,000 acres are being assessed for the Prop 218," she said. She told the board the maximum Prop. 218 rate in the engineers report is $26.84 (land-based); the Prop. 26 maximum in the cost-of-service study is $19.24 per acre-foot (volumetric), which would apply to extractive groundwater pumpers.

Becca Quist, also presenting, described the public-notice and voting process: ballots for the Prop. 218 election will be mailed to affected parcel owners and votes are acreage-weighted ("one acre equals one vote"). "If 50% plus 1 of the votes received are in favor of the election, then that assessment would be able to move forward," she said. The GSA will provide a minimum 45-day notice window for the Prop. 218 ballots and plans two public workshops in August to explain the package before the September public hearings.

Board members moved and seconded the two actions at the meeting. The clerk recorded affirmative roll-call responses for the named directors when votes were taken. The clerk read: "Richard Valle? Yes." "Greg Verbin? Yes." "Rusty Robinson? Yes." "Jim Regan? Yes." (transcript roll-call reading). The motions, as recorded on the meeting record, accept the Prop. 218 engineers report and the Prop. 26 cost-of-service study and set the Sept. 29 public hearings.

Why it matters: the Prop. 218/26 package is the GSA's primary financing path for administering the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), funding mitigation programs such as dry-well assistance and subsidence mitigation, and covering ongoing GSA administration, outreach and monitoring. The board and staff said they will accompany the mailed materials with educational outreach so property owners understand how the pieces of the funding package apply to them.

Next steps: staff will proceed with public-notice mailings, outreach workshops in August and formal public hearings on Sept. 29, 2026, where ballots and public comment will be considered before any final adoption decision.