Board discusses Prop 218 assessment options as staff shows $46 million baseline and Solvang $5 million buy‑in

The board spent substantial time on item 9 reviewing approaches to a Prop 218 construction assessment, how assessments are allocated to parcels and what elements must be handled by an assessment engineer.

General Manager Savage explained Prop 218 distinguishes construction assessment votes (one‑time capital costs) from operational rate votes (ongoing O&M), and that an assessment engineer must prepare a legally defensible allocation of project costs among parcels. Using an illustrative spreadsheet based on NV5 work, Savage showed how choosing different allocation constants (parcel size vs. use factors) changes individual parcel liabilities and noted the sample total project cost used in the demonstration was "just over 46,000,000". He also told the board that a buy‑in to reserve capacity from the City of Solvang — "around $5,000,000" — would be included as part of the construction assessment base.

Public commenters urged transparency and cautioned against splitting the Prop 218 vote into multiple separate votes that might leave property owners unaware of additional costs (e.g., lateral connections, grinder pumps and lift stations). The manager said the construction assessment and future rate studies are distinct processes; counsel added the constitutional and statutory framework for Prop 218 allows different procedures for capital assessments and rates and advised the board they should develop defensible scenarios for the assessment engineer to evaluate.

The board did not take a final Prop 218 vote; the manager said staff will refine scenarios, pursue assessment‑engineer proposals and bring more detailed materials back to the board for direction in coming months.

Provenance: Discussion began with the manager’s Prop 218 overview and the spreadsheet demonstration and included public comment and legal context.