2019 CA Special District May-June

C ALI FO R N I A

SPECIAL DISTRICTS Vo l um e 14 , I s s u e 3 • M a y- Ju n e 2 019

A Publication of the C alifornia Special D is tr ic ts A s s oc iation

Community Connections:

“GOING GREEN” DOES NOT HAVE TO “COST GREEN” IF DONE WISELY

The Need to Lead

SPECIAL ISSUE:

page 27

Building Powerful Partnerships and Communities

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Save the Date.

UPCOMING EVENTS July 7–10, 2019 Special District Leadership Academy – Napa* September 25–28, 2019 CSDA Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase – Anaheim November 12–14, 2019 Board Secretary / Clerk Conference – Monterey

*Two Tracks: First-time and returning attendees

Volume 14 • Issue 3

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Past Pieces OF THE

The Need to Lead

27 05 CEO’s Message

Interview with Former CSDA Board President Chuck Beesley

20

48 Managers Corner:

Avoiding Billing

System Debacles

52

06 Professional 18 Ask the Experts:

The Water Shutoff Development

Protection Act 08 CSDA News

Project Exemption

10

24

Take Action: Senate Policy Committee Decide to Remove Caps On Impact Fees From SB 13 and SB 4

Community Connections: 36 “Going Green” Does Not Have to “Cost Green” if Done Wisely

FEATURE 54 Risk Management: Special Districts Can Summer Recreational Play a Key Role in Exposures Climate Adaptation 56 Money Matters: 14 You Ask, We Answer: 44 Legal Brief:

Is Your Team Prepared

Prevailing Wage –

Under the Influence:

For Fiscal Year End?

Small Project Exemption How The Project

Influence Rule Can 59 Districts Make the Difference: 16 Movers and Shakers

Affect Your Appraisals

Lights, Camera, Action For editorial inquiries, contact Vanessa Gonzales, Communications Specialist at 877.924.2732 or vanessag@csda.net.

4

For advertising inquiries, contact CSDA at 877.924.2732 or advertising@csda.net.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

CEO'S MESSAGE

New Value-Added Program for CSDA Members!

Since this is our annual Buyer’s Guide edition of California Special Districts, I thought it would only be appropriate to first thank all Neil McCormick of CSDA’s Business Affiliate CSDA Chief Executive Officer Members! These companies work with member districts each day to keep things running. Whether it’s a law firm that provides critical guidance, CPAs to ensure best practices and financial prudence are being practiced, or the myriad of consultants that help provide expertise and guidance to district staff and boards, Business Affiliates are important partners to special districts!

Speaking of Business Affiliates, I am pleased to announce CSDA’s newest value-added program for members! We have partnered with the government surplus auction site, GovDeals, to provide CSDA members with access to an easy-to-

use, transparent platform for buying and selling surplus items online.

Now, members can visit the Surplus Marketplace located under the ‘Member Resources’ tab on CSDA’s website (csda.net), establish an account with GovDeals, and start buying and selling surplus items. Do you need or want to sell office equipment, vehicles, tools, furniture, etc.? CSDA members now have a one-stop marketplace to go to. In fact, districts already using the platform and have sold surplus items totaling over $128,000!

So, as we celebrate and appreciate CSDA’s Business Affiliates and as you take a look through the 2019 Buyer’s Guide, I encourage you to flag companies that your district could reach out to now or in the future. CSDA Business Affiliate Members are some of the best in the business and many regularly speak on important topics throughout the year at various CSDA events and webinars. Additionally, you can always access and search a current listing of Business Affiliates on CSDA’s website at csda.net/buyers-guide.

What are you waiting for….time to start shopping AND selling!

CSDA Board and Staff Officers

Staff

JOEL BAUER, SDA, PRESIDENT, West Side Cemetery District

NEIL MCCORMICK, Chief Executive Officer

JEFFREY HODGE, SDA, VICE PRESIDENT, Santa Ynez Community Services District

MEGAN HEMMING, Professional Development Director

ELAINE MAGNER, SECRETARY, Pleasant Valley Recreation & Park District

CATHRINE LEMAIRE, Member Services Director

RYAN CLAUSNITZER, SDA, TREASURER, Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District

KYLE PACKHAM, Advocacy & Public Affairs Director

GREG ORSINI, PAST PRESIDENT, McKinleyville Community Services District

TODD WINSLOW, Publications Director RICK WOOD, Finance & Administration Director

Members of the Board

ITZEL BECERRA, Professional Development Assistant

STANLEY CALDWELL, Mt. View Sanitary District

CRISTINA BECERRA, Member Services Representative

RALPH EMERSON, Garberville Sanitary District

EMILY CHA, Professional Development Coordinator

CHAD DAVISSON, SDA, Ironhouse Sanitary District

MARCUS DETWILER, Legislative Assistant

VINCENT FERRANTE, Moss Landing Harbor District

RYLAN GERVASE, Legislative Representative

PETER KAMPA, SDA, Saddle Creek Community Services District

DILLON GIBBONS, Senior Legislative Representative

JO MACKENZIE, Vista Irrigation District

VANESSA GONZALES, Communications Specialist

NOELLE MATTOCK, El Dorado Hills Community Services District

COLLEEN HALEY, Public Affairs Field Coordinator

SANDI MILLER, SDA, Selma Cemetery District

JIM HARROLD, Database & Online Communities Coordinator

WILLIAM NELSON, Orange County Cemetery District

MUSTAFA HESSABI, Legislative Analyst-Attorney

GINGER ROOT, Country Club Sanitary District

COLE KARR, Public Affairs Field Coordinator

TIMOTHY RUIZ, P.E., East Niles Community Services District

STEVEN NASCIMENTO, Public Affairs Field Coordinator

FRED RYNESS, Burney Water District

CHRIS PALMER, Public Affairs Field Coordinator

ARLENE SCHAFER, Costa Mesa Sanitary District

AMBER PHELEN, Executive Assistant CASSANDRA STRAWN, Senior Member Services Specialist

California Special Districts Association 1112 I Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814 toll-free: 877.924.2732 • www.csda.net

© 2019. California Special Districts Association.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

KYLE TANAKA, Member Services Specialist ANTHONY TANNEHILL, Legislative Representative DANE WADLÉ, Public Affairs Field Coordinator JAMES WILFONG, Senior Designer A proud California Special Districts Alliance partner

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

New SDA Study Group Underway

The Special District Leadership Foundation (SDLF) has launched the first Special District Administrator (SDA) Certification Study Group. The Special District Administrator Certification is a voluntary designation sought by individuals who strive to be the best. Administrators with various academic and professional backgrounds, as well as from all sizes of special districts, can be candidates for the program.

The certification examination and study guide were developed through the participation of over 100 volunteer subject matter experts who know special district administration.

Guided by the SDLF Board, Certification Advisory Committee, and under direction by a professional examination development firm, this certification will give successful candidates recognition unmatched by any other program.

The group of approximately 20 special district staff members, launched this February, features an online community where participants are able to pose questions and share summaries of SDA study material as well as once a month conference calls to discuss topics relevant to the SDA exam.

If you are interested in participating in the 2020 SDA Study Group, email amberp@sdlf.org.

PREVAILING WAGE & LABOR COMPLIANCE ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

New Agency Obligations Fines for Non- compliance State/Federal Funded Projects Contractor/Subcontractor Compliance

Join us at the General Manager’s Conference in June in Newport Beach or

call CSDA Consultant Connection www.ccmilcp.com  650-522-4403  info@ccmilcp.com

6

CSDA Member

Annual Conference Keynote Speakers Announced

Mark Scharenbroich

Erik Qualman

CSDA is pleased to announce the two keynote speakers highlighting this year’s 2019 CSDA Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase, September 25 – 28, 2019 in Anaheim, CA. The opening keynote presentation from Emmy awardwinning speaker Mark Scharenbroich will take place on Thursday, September 26. Mark takes you for a fun ride on how to be effective at making meaningful connections in both your professional and personal life. His “Nice Bike” principle is supported by three strong actions: Acknowledge, Honor and Connect.

Mark has spent his career working in both industry and education discovering how some of the best organizations and team leaders build a culture that encourages people to perform at a higher level through greater engagement.

You won’t want to miss the SDRMA sponsored keynote speaker on Friday, September 27. Erik Qualman, called a “Digital Dale Carnegie”, is an author and international expert on social media, digital trends, and digital leadership. Erik’s interactive and entertaining session “Socialnomics: Your Path to Digital Transformation” showcases habits that drive success and happiness for your employees, partners and constituents. You will leave with a clear understanding on why we don’t have a choice on whether we digitally transform. The choice is how well we do it. Most importantly, you will be given the guideposts to continue on your path of digital transformation, today.

Register now at CSDA.net!

ATTEND! Be a part of the 50th Don’t miss your chance to attend Anniversary activities June 23–25, 2019 in Newport Beach. at this year’s annual conference!

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

DISTRICT OF DISTINCTION ACCREDITATION

DISTRICT OF DISTINCTION ACCREDITATION

TAKE YOUR DISTRICT TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

SPECIAL DISTRICT LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION

The District of Distinction Accreditation is designed as a way for districts to highlight their prudent practices important to effectively administer and govern a special district.

In a time when proper fiscal management and responsibility in public agencies is paramount, it has become increasingly important to demonstrate that districts have sound fiscal management, transparency, and governance policies/practices in place. Apply today!

1112 I Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814 • t: 916.231.2909 • www.sdlf.org Volume 14 • Issue 3

7

CSDA NEWS

! w e N roved

Imp at!

Form

CalTRUST Adds New, Environmentally Conscious Investment Option

CalTRUST, the pooled investment program endorsed by CSDA, has added a new fund to their product lineup: the BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund (LEAF). The investment objective of LEAF is to seek as high a level of current income as is consistent with liquidity and preservation of capital while giving consideration to select environmental criteria.

LEAF is just one of the investment accounts offered by CalTRUST; all accounts are in full compliance with California government code. For information on your agency’s investment options, visit caltrust.biz or contact CSDA.

What’s All the Talk About?

Have you participated in our Communities?

Login at csda.net and talk with peers – perhaps they’ve already conquered your next challenge.

CSDA COMMUNITIES! UNIQUE LOGINS

4,367

DISCUSSIONS

4,143 NEW THREADS

655

Administrative Salary & Benefits Survey

CSDA has launched a new online survey tool for collection and comparison of special district salary and benefit data. We invite you to participate by entering your agency’s administrative salary and benefits data into this user-friendly format.

Once the survey results become live and you have purchased the product, you’ll have access to the most upto-date, comprehensive, aggregated information available – 24/7!

The CSDA Administrative Salary & Benefits Survey is designed to provide the data necessary to evaluate the salary and benefits offered by special districts. It serves as a valuable management tool when reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating your district’s own salary and benefits structure. The online format allows you to create customized reports and make the most meaningful comparisons based on agency type, size, or other demographics. For examples of the data collected and reported in this survey, visit csda.net/ member-resources/salary-survey or contact us at membership@csda.net.

Refer to You Ask, We Answer on page 14.

Special Districts Mapping Project CSDA, in partnership with California CAD Solutions, offers the most comprehensive, interactive map of independent special districts in California. CSDA’s goal is to have every independent special district headquarters and boundary lines represented on the map. If your district’s data is inaccurate or missing boundary lines, please let us know how we can correct it. Contact CSDA Member Services (cathrinel@csda.net) with any questions or comments.

‘19 CSDA Award Nominations Now Open!

Deadline: July 17, 2019 CSDA presents various annual awards during the CSDA Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase including: Board Member of the Year, General Manager of the Year, Staff Member of the Year, Innovative Program/Project of the Year, Exceptional Public Outreach & Advocacy, CSDA Chapter of the Year, Ralph Heim Exceptional Outreach & Advocacy, and the William Hollingsworth Award of Excellence. See details at csda.net.

For questions, contact Vanessa Gonzales at 877.924.2732 or at vanessag@csda.net.

Visit the map online at: csda.net/special-districts/map 8

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

SPECIAL DISTRICTS 2019 P hotos!

@CSDADISTRICTS FACEBOOK.COM/CSDADISTRICTS #DISTRICTSADVOCATE

(left to right) CSDA President Joel Bauer, SDA, Senator Mike McGuire, CSDA CEO Neil McCormick, and CSDA Immediate Past President Greg Orsini .

CSDA Board President Joel Bauer, SDA welcomes attendees.

Attendees being briefed on the legislative visit process.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

2 D AY E V E N T: A D V O C A C Y & P O L I C Y D AY S

Attendees meet with Assemblymember Christy Smith who represents the 38th Assembly District.

CSDA ADVOCACY TEAM: (left to right) Anthony Tannehill, Rylan Gervase, and Dillon Gibbons.

Public Affairs Field Coordniator Chris Palmer enjoys a networking lunch with attendees.

Attendees speaking with their local legislative representative at the Capitol.

Speaker Gabriel Petek, California Legislative Analyst.

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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

“Going Green”

Does Not Have to “Cost Green” if Done Wisely

By Ken Robbins, General Manager, Midway City Sanitary District

In 2019, the Midway City Sanitary District is celebrating its 80th year of service to the community. Ken Robbins has served as the district’s General Manager since April 2011, with 27 outstanding employees, 22 of which are in the field providing essential services to 102,048 residents and five elected officials.

The district’s solid waste rates are among the lowest in the county at just $14.75 per month.

Although relatively small in size, the Midway City Sanitary District (MCSD) is an innovative and forwardlooking organization set on an aggressive goal. It is the District’s top priority to provide service in an ethical, efficient and cost-effective manner in order to protect the health and safety of those it serves. With appropriate savings, MCSD strives to use its resources wisely. The goal has been to be more proactive than reactive - to equip MCSD to be more aggressive in charting its future.

MCSD has traditionally operated “under the radar” for many good reasons but feels it is time to be more 10

visible and more engaged in all forums, which offer an opportunity to have a greater impact. Partnership has always been an essential element in making the MCSD a successful organization and an outstanding District to work for.

Changes within the organization drive innovation and business value, but changing initiatives often fail because of poor leadership. The ability to be a leader of change is essential to the district. If staff senses that, as their leader, you care about something, they are more likely to care as well. There is a natural evolution in every successful organization. An organization’s governing body is charged with keeping its finger on the pulse of the organization, ensuring that opportunities are captured and threats are averted. MCSD is an effective, responsive and dynamic organization, and the Board of Directors California Special Districts • May-June 2019

In 2018, MCSD rolled out its curbside Organic Recycling Program to the 19,200 households it serves at NO additional cost to the rate payers.

This was accomplished through forward thinking and financial prudency.

is pleased with the range of services and programs the district is able to provide to its constituents. The Board’s priority is to maintain MCSD’s high service standards, legislative efforts, regulatory involvement and engagement in day-to-day operations.

What was done is essentially a rebranding of the district and its constituents from the perception of being polluters and/or dischargers to that of a resource recovery agency that plays a significant role in providing clean energy and renewable resources that California not only needs, but demands.

In 2018, MCSD rolled out its curbside Organic Recycling Program to the 19,200 households it serves at NO additional cost to the rate Volume 14 • Issue 3

payers. This was accomplished through forward thinking and financial prudency. The Organic Recycling Program started in 2015 when MCSD built its own compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling facility and converted its entire solid waste fleet to CNG fuel at a cost of $5.2M in order to meet the AB32 mandate for solid waste fleets.

The upside to converting to CNG was the savings of $310,000 per year in diesel fuel costs compared to using CNG. The district also saved four man hours per day in staff time that was previously spent on fueling at a separate location. Fast forward three years to 2018 and the district has saved a total of $930,000 in fuel

FINANCIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2010/2011 – The District operated in the red. Since then has operated in the black and started saving for rainy days for a total of $17M from 2012-2018.

2012 – District reorganization saving $750K per year eliminating four management and one sewer maintenance position using technologies to fill the void.

2013 - Converted to SDRMA insurance, saving $160K per year and with better coverage.

2014 - Cal Recycle used oil/filter payments and change in dental, phone provider, updated lighting to LED and GPS tracking system saving $150K per year.

2015 - No CalPERS liability debt (first agency to have a two-tier system) saving $1M to $1.5M per year.

2015 - Debt free by paying off COP debt saving $1M per year.

2015 - The District fully converted its solid waste and sewer maintenance fleets to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and built a CNG fueling station, saving $310K per year.

2018 - Made $1.2M in interest from CalPERS and maintains $5.3M in the fully funded account.

continued on page 12

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costs, of which $860,000 was used to implement and roll-out the residential Curbside Organic Recycling Program in November 2018. The other $70,000 is being used for the increased Material Recovery Facility (MRF) rates to process the organic material at CR&R’s anaerobic digestion facility in Perris, California where they convert it to Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). MCSD is currently in negotiations with Clean Energy Fuels for the sale of its carbon credits and the purchase of RNG fuel for its fleet.

This is expected to save MCSD an additional $13,000 per year in fuel costs which will bring the cost to fuel our fleet down to $0.65 per gallon. Going forward the district will use its $323,000 per year savings to offset the cost of anaerobic digestion, which is projected to cost $285,000 annually, leaving room for future growth without necessitating increasing rates.

The district has not raised rates in 13 years due to prudent financial management.

The money that was budgeted for the above is used for continued infrastructure improvements and to build reserves without needing to raise rates. Doing more with less!

Free District Programs ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING during first two weeks in January HELPING HANDS PROGRAM which promotes quality of life for seniors and people with disabilities.

BULKY ITEM PICKUP PROGRAM – the District picks up two items per month (furniture and appliances only) at no cost to residents.

CLEAN UP EVENTS - three to four per year in various locations for residents to dispose of anything.

Representing California public agencies for over sixty years.

Greg Stepanicich Jim Markman Roxanne Diaz Ginetta Giovinco Whitney McDonald

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Construction

Labor & Employment

Special Districts

Eminent Domain

Litigation

Telecommunications

Energy

Public Agency Law

Transportation

Environmental

Public Finance

Waste Management

General Counsel

Real Estate

Water Law

888.479.4529

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

Business Affiliate Special Acknowledgements BUSINESS AFFILIATE

BUSINESS AFFILIATE

DIAMOND LEVEL

PLATINUM LEVEL

Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo www.aalrr.com

Best Best & Krieger www.bbklaw.com

Richards Watson Gershon www.rwglaw.com

CSDA Finance Corporation www.csdafinance.net

Liebert Cassidy Whitmore www.lcwlegal.com

Umpqua Bank www.umpquabank.com

Special District Risk Management Authority www.sdrma.org BUSINESS AFFILIATE

GOLD LEVEL

Aleshire & Wynder www.awattorneys.com

CPS HR Consulting www.cpshr.us

Bid Fast and Last Auctions www.bidfastandlast.com

Five Star Bank www.fivestarbank.com

PARS www.pars.org

SmartWatt Energy www.smartwatt.com

Burke, Williams & Sorensen www.bwslaw.com

Hanson Bridgett www.hansonbridgett.com

Streamline www.getstreamline.com

California CAD Solutions www.calcad.com

Kutak Rock, LLP www.kutakrock.com

Tyler Technologies www.tylertech.com

CalPERS Health Program www.calpers.ca.gov

Laserfiche www.laserfiche.com

Caselle www.caselle.com

Nossaman www.nossaman.com

Yeah, we’ve got a great magazine, but we’re more than just a glossy cover.

ISTRICTS SPECIAL D

CAL IFOR

NIA

ion A Publicat

Jan-Feb Issue 1 • Volume 14,

ia of the Californ

Special Districts

Associa tion

2019

Your agency’s membership in CSDA gives you access to a variety of value-added benefits. Visit us online at csda.net and take a look under “Member Resources”.

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Volume 14 • Issue 3

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Questions Appear in CSDA Communities

YOU ASK, WE ANSWER

Q&A

Prevailing Wage - Small Project Exemption Chris Foran, Development & Communication RCD of Greater San Diego County The last Prevailing Wage training I took was back in 2016. Someone just brought to my attention the Small Project Exemption, which I believe was introduced in 2017.

It states: “Contractors who work exclusively on small public works projects are not required to register as a public works contractor or file electronic certified payroll reports for those projects. Contractors are still required to maintain certified payroll records on a continuous basis, and provide them to the Labor Commissioner’s Office upon request. Additionally, awarding agencies are not required to submit the notice of contract award through DIR’s PWC-100 system on projects that fall within the small project exemption. The small project exemption applies for all public works projects that do not exceed: $25,000 for new construction, alteration, installation, demolition or repair; or $15,000 for maintenance.”

If I am reading this correctly, if we are hiring a contractor for a small project (e.g. $3,000 - $5,000) they do NOT need to be registered with the DIR and our agency does NOT need to submit a PWC-100. However, the contractor still needs to pay prevailing wage. Is that correct? If so, this would make things a lot easier for us.

14

Kevin Wang, Attorney Best Best & Krieger LLP Yes, your interpretation of the small project exemption under state prevailing wage law is correct. In addition to the exemption’s application to the contractor’s obligation to register as a public works contractor with DIR and the public agency owner’s obligation to timely submit a PWC-100 form, the exemption also applies to exempt the contractor from the obligation to submit online certified payroll records directly to DIR - note the contractor still must maintain certified payroll records, they are just exempt from the online submission requirement. Apart from these three aspects of prevailing wage law, the balance of the state prevailing wage requirements remains applicable.

Kris Lamkin, Financial Manager Tehama County Resource Conservation District Yes, it is true they do not have be registered, and you will not have to file a PWC-100. The contractor will not have to submit online CPRs, as they physically cannot submit them, since there is no PWC-100 created and that is where they would file them.

But, everything else with the compliance will still apply, proper worker classification, wage determinations, fringes paid in cash or to approved funds, training contributions need to be paid, proper authorization for any employee deductions from Cert PR, limited to 8 hours per day straight time, they need to follow any and all footnotes included in the determinations, etc. For the agency, creating a PWC-100 is an easy, straightforward job that takes 10 minutes. For contractors, who must prepare certified payrolls and submit them to you at the agency anyway, uploading a file to the PWC-100 is a 5-minute job each week. Then for you at the agency, as you review each week’s certified payroll and doing the compliance, checking CSDA Disclaimer: This section is not intended to be legal advice. Members should always seek legal counsel. The information contained here is for general reference purposes only.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

to see if they uploaded it takes literally just a minute.

So, the DIR really did all of us no favor by removing that requirement. The online version of the uploaded payroll is of no use to us as awarding bodies, as all the requirements that we must review are not even included in the online version!

We have to have those hard copies of the CPR anyway in order to do our work, so this “loosened” requirement relieves us of virtually nothing.

The “danger” in getting bids from contractors who can’t/ won’t even pay the $400 to register for the DIR is that you very likely will be getting bids from contractors who do not have the first clue about the onerous PW compliance requirements they are still going to be subject to. This can be very costly for your agency as you will have to do a lot of hand holding and chasing down of non-compliant items, as that level of contractor is going to be the ones who just don’t know what they don’t know. They may not mean to make errors out of ignorance, not willful violations, but you will spend a lot of time and money helping them through the learning curve.

We have found that for contractors, paying the higher wages is ultimately the least painful part of any PW project. It is all the other paperwork, requirements and rules they must follow that causes them, and us, all the grief.

Judi Fonoti, Capital Projects Coordinator Desert Recreation District I would also like to add that I have seen where there has been a misunderstanding regarding the cost. Be cautious as to whether a contract is done as a sole project versus part of a larger project. Remember that DIR Registration requirements are based on Project cost in total, not single contracts. I’ve had to have contractors submit eCPR for contracts of only a few thousand dollars, due to the whole project cost.

And the other response is VERY accurate about opening up opportunities to contractors less experienced in Prevailing Wage and all the requirements that come with it. I have my own compliance regiment that I adhere to strictly, and still have issues of compliance with contractors, both “experienced” and less experienced. I always suggest the more due diligence you do as the awarding body protects all involved and less time lost in “clean up.”

For more on prevailing wage and labor compliance, PREVAILING WAGE &

connect with Contractor Compliance and Monitoring

LABOR COMPLIANCE through CSDA’s Consultant Connection. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

New Agency Obligations Fines for Non- compliance State/Federal Funded Projects Contractor/Subcontractor Compliance

MAXIMIZE Y OUR M E MJoin BEusRSHI at the P General

Manager’s Conference in June in Newport Beach or

call CSDA Consultant Connection

VISIT CSDA’S ONLINE COMMUNITIES www.ccmilcp.com  650-522-4403  info@ccmilcp.com

Connect Communicate Engage Volume 14 • Issue 3

CSDA Member

WWW.CSDA.NET

15

MOVERS& SHAKERS Angela Lowrey with Delta Diablo was named by the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) as the state’s Communicator of the Year for 2019, recognizing her dedication to Angela Lowrey clean water education and resource recovery outreach, her overall expertise in the communications field and for her award-winning creativity in her work. She was presented with the Communicator of the Year Award at CAPIO’s annual conference in Newport Beach on April 10, 2019.

Cindy Gustafson will be Placer County’s new Board of Supervisors member for District 5, appointed by a unanimous vote of the board April 11, 2019. A 36-year resident of District 5, she has extensive nonprofit, business Cindy Gustafson and local government experience in eastern Placer County, including 26 years with the Tahoe City Public Utility District – serving eight of those years as general manager.

Cucamonga Valley Water District (CVWD) Board Member Randall James Reed was recently appointed to become the President of the Association of San Bernardino County Special Districts Randall James (ASBCSD), which is a chapter of Reed the statewide California Special Districts Association (CSDA). Director Reed has been a member of ASBCSD since 2015 and served as the Treasurer prior to his appointment as President.

Bruce Wales, general manager of the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District, retired after 24 years with the district, having started his employment April 18, 1995. He was replaced

by Kevin Walsh, who has worked for several

16

water districts in California and most recently he served as president of the board of trustees for the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District, Improvement District No. 1, a position he resigned to accept the job.

Gloria Dizmang

Gloria Dizmang, a former Palmdale Water District (PWD) Board director, was sworn in following her appointment by the Board to fill the vacant seat for Division 3. In a unanimous 4-0 vote, the Board chose Director Dizmang to replace former Director Marco Henriquez, who resigned in March.

Noelani Middenway, District Clerk (left) and Gina Terraneo, Management Analyst II.

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District (CMSD) was honored with an Award of Distinction for Excellence in Public Information and Communications by the state association California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) for the creation of its Citizens Environmental Protection Academy (CEPA).

The Orange County Water District (OCWD) and the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) received a Silver Mercury Award for their Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) Bottled Water Campaign. The International Mercury Awards competition honors the best in public relations, public affairs and corporate communications.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) was honored with two Excellence in Public Information and Communications (EPIC) awards, the top prize in each respective category, through the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) during its annual awards event on April 10, 2019. EMWD was recognized for its outstanding customer communications for its Water Tax Education as well as its Healthy Sewer campaign.

Beach Cities Health District’s (BCHD) Center for Health & Fitness (CHF) is now certified as a medical fitness facility by the Medical Fitness Association, making CHF the only current California organization to achieve this designation. Center for Health & Fitness is an accredited medically-based fitness facility focused on exercise and managing chronic health conditions.

Patrick Lee, treasurer, and Donella Murillo, finance supervisor, of the Florin Resource Conservation District, hold a certificate awarded to the district for excellence in finance reporting.

The Florin Resource Conservation District/Elk Grove Water District received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for their 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). This marks ten years in a row that the district has earned the prestigious honor for financial reporting.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

Ixchel Hernandez and Maria Farias pose with members of the District Board of Directors after being presented with ceremonial scholarship checks at Wednesday’s board meeting.

The Monte Vista Water District Board of Directors awarded Maria Farias and Ixchel Hernandez of Montclair High School the “2019 Bruce J. Lance, Jr. Water Scholarship.” Each year the board awards two $1,000 scholarships in Lance’s honor for his 44 years of extraordinary service to the district and the community as the agency’s general counsel.

For the 12th consecutive year, Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). According to the GFOA, the Certificate is “the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.”

The Cucamonga Valley Water District (CVWD/ District) Board of Directors recently appointed Mr. John Bosler as the new General Manager/Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Bosler was hired by the District in 2004 as the Senior Engineer and then became the Director of Engineering & Operations prior to his role as Assistant John Bosler General Manager. “I am honored to oversee this dynamic organization with a team of employees that is focused on providing the best service possible for our customers,” stated Mr. Bosler.

Do you have Movers and Shakers in your districts to highlight?

Send to Communications Specialist Vanessa Gonzales at vanessag@csda.net for consideration in this section.

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ASK THE EXPERTS

The Water Shutoff Protection Act

By Catherine Groves, Senior Counsel, Hanson Bridgett, LLP

Last year, the Governor signed into law the Water Shutoff Protection Act (Act), Health and Safety Code sections 116900 et seq., which requires water agencies to adopt a written policy and provide additional procedural protections for customers prior to terminating residential water service for nonpayment.

Which Agencies Must Comply with the Act?

The Act requires all “urban water suppliers” that are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to comply with the new provisions by February 1, 2020. The term “urban water suppliers” is likely familiar to readers and has the same meaning as in other contexts. It means “a supplier, either publicly or privately owned, providing water for municipal purposes either directly or indirectly to more than 3,000 customers or supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually.” (Water Code §10617.) The Act does not apply to urban water suppliers that are regulated by the CPUC. The Act also applies to all “urban and

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community water systems” which are public water system that supplies water to more than 200 service connections.

Urban and community water systems that are regulated by the CPUC must comply with the Act by February 1, 2020. Urban and community water systems that are not regulated by the CPUC must comply with the Act by April 1, 2020.

What Are the New Requirements?

The law requires agencies to: 1. Have a written policy on discontinuation of residential water service; 2. Provide the policy in multiple

languages including English, the languages listed in Section 1632 of the Civil Code, and any other language spoken by at least 10% of the residents in the agency’s service area; 3. Post the policy on the agency’s website; 4. Prohibit the shutoff of water service until the bill has been delinquent for 60 days; 5. Provide notice at least seven business days prior to discontinuing residential service for nonpayment.

The notice must include the information specified in the Act and also must be provided in English, the languages listed in Section 1632 of the Civil Code, and any other California Special Districts • May-June 2019

language spoken by at least 10% of the residents in the agency’s service area; 6. Comply with additional notice requirements if the agency is unable to make contact with the customer or an adult occupying the residence; 7. Include provisions for not shutting off water for certain customers that meet specified criteria, including if (i) the discontinuation of residential service will be life threatening, or would pose a serious threat to the health and safety of a resident, (ii) customer demonstrates that they are unable to pay for residential service within the normal billing cycle, or (iii) if the customer is willing to enter into an alternative payment schedule; 8. Cap the reconnection fees for restoring water service for certain low income customers; 9. Provide customers with information on how to restore residential service if it is discontinued for nonpayment; and 10. Post the number of annual discontinuations of service on the agency’s website.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

What About the Old Requirements?

Agencies are already familiar with the existing requirements for terminating water service which are currently set forth in Public Utilities Code sections 10001 et seq. and Government Code sections 60370 et seq. The Act takes precedence over any conflicting provisions in those statutes.

However, it is additive to requirements in existing law that do not conflict. As a result, agencies will want to work with their legal counsel to review their existing practices and policies and determine how to comply with the Act and the existing Public Utilities Code and Government Code requirements.

Learn more about author Catherine Groves, Senior Counsel from Hanson Bridgett, LLP, at www. hansonbridgett.com/Our-Attorneys/catherine-j-groves.

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Celebrating 50 Years of Service: 1969-2019

Annual Reports

Past Pieces OF THE

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2019 marks California Special Districts Association’s 50th Anniversary! Throughout the year, CSDA is celebrating our history, members and service.

California Special Districts magazine was honored to interview former Board Member Chuck Beesley, who represented the California Special Districts Association as Board President from 2000-2002.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

(left) Chuck Beesley, CSDA Board President at the 2001 CSDA Annual Conference. (below) Beesley presents the Exceptional Public Outreach Award to the Midway City Sanitary District.

Chuck Beesley CSDA BOARD PRESIDENT 2000-2002

Shortly after Proposition 13 passed, Chuck Beesley became the manager of the Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District in 1978. Being a smaller agency, the District was competing for bail out funds after Prop 13. They had recently lost half their staff and equipment, and they were broke. As a new general manager, Beesley didn’t know much about how local agencies and the state worked, but he quickly learned that special districts were the underappreciated third leg of local government. “Linking with CSDA, even before I became a board member and president,” said Beesley, “was a good avenue to get trained on what local government was all about, the history of local government, and the value of special districts.”

Mosquito and vector control districts formed a small world of specialized public health that few knew much about. With Prop 13 impacting government the way it did, Beesley felt the need to reach out to the community

Volume 14 ••Issue Issue1 3

to help them understand who the Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District was and the value they provided to the community. He started from ground level and built up the District over the years. One of the most valuable things he gained from CSDA was to learn the importance of strategic planning. When Beesley was on the CSDA Board of Directors, he worked with Bill Miller, Cathrine Smith, and David Aranda to implement strategic planning at the state level for CSDA. “Catherine Smith from CSDA came to our district at different times,” said Beesley. “I was probably a hard sell to join because we were broke, but eventually she sold me on it and we joined in the early 1980’s. It was such a good thing for me and my district with the value of what CSDA provided. I never fully appreciated the role special districts played in local government until I got involved with CSDA.” Beesley was involved with developing the Contra Costa Special Districts Association, now formally affiliated with the state association.

There were larger players involved, such as East Bay Municipal Utility

District and East Bay Regional Parks and Recreation District, which helped the smaller districts. The budgets and staff of the larger districts dwarfed that of smaller districts like Beesley’s, but participation in CSDA put them on an equal level. Beesley expressed that this connection helped the reputation, credibility, and funding of his district.

As a CSDA President and Board Member, Chuck Beesley got to know state legislators. He also mentioned what a great guy that former Legislative Advocate Ralph Heim was to work with. “I can’t think of anyone better to represent us at the time,” said Beesley.

Beesley was involved with the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC) which formed a joint power authority (JPA) for self-insurance pooling.

Beesley became president of that organization and, as the years went by, worked with CSDA in the same process to form the Special Districts Risk Management Authority (SDRMA) in the late 1980’s. This pool provided the opportunity for special districts of continued on page 22

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Celebrating 50 Years of Service: 1969-2019

CSDA Anniversary: Celebrating 50 Years of Service Throughout 2019!

Most Influential People

We will be celebrating CSDA’s history, accomplishments, and members through 2019. If you have CSDA stories, photos, or historical documents, please send to Communications Specialist Vanessa Gonzales at vanessag@csda.net.

Chuck Beesley participats in a working group at a CSDA training event.

all kinds to access high-quality, comprehensive insurance coverages at better rates than what was available on the private market.

One of the key benefits Beesley’s district gained by membership in CSDA access to financing services through the CSDA Finance Corporation. His district was one of the first mosquito and vector control districts to utilize Certificates of Participation (COPs) to finance the building of their new facility. At the time, COPs were not a well-known financing mechanism, but they were a good option for mosquito and vector control districts that, like many smaller agencies, were without deep resources.

At Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District, Beesley was the strategic planner, the trainer, as well as the finance, human resources, and technology guy. Having staff serve in multiple roles is typical in smaller agencies. With membership in CSDA, small districts and their staff are capable of greater things. “CSDA allowed me to get the trainings and a better sense of what I could and should be doing. I was lucky to have a board supporting me, allowing me to take chances and risks,” stated Beesley.

For Beesley, the opportunity to interact with the bigger districts was another very valuable component of CSDA membership. At Legislative Affairs Days, special districts of all types and sizes showed strength in numbers by going to Sacramento, listening to legislative issues, pitching to the local legislators to make themselves heard, and learning to be better community advocates. “I got a chance to work with some great people at CSDA,” said Beesley.

Get Your 50th Pin! Join us at conferences, events, or training workshops!

We hope to see you at upcoming CSDA events. You’ll receive a special anniversary pin celebrating CSDA accomplishments over the last 50 years!

“CSDA a l l owe d me to get the trainings and a better sense of w h a t I cou ld an d shou ld be doing. I was l uc ky t o h a v e a board su pportin g me, allowing me t o t a ke c h a nc es an d risks. ”

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California Special Districts • May-June 2019

INTERVIEW

What was happening between...

NEW PUBLICATIONS DEVELOPED FOR CSDA MEMBERS FROM 2000-02.

...2000 thru 2002 • SPECIAL DISTRICT RESERVE GUIDELINES • SPECIAL DISTRICT BOARD MEMBER/TRUSTEE HANDBOOK • SPECIAL DISTRICT FACT SHEETS • SPECIAL DISTRICT MEDIA TALKING POINTS • SPECIAL DISTRICT LOCAL OUTREACH GUIDE

The evolution of a great program!

CSDA’s Special District Leadership Academy Realizing the growing need for comprehensive governance training in special districts, CSDA took the lead in developing the Special District Governance Academy in 2002.

The Academy, which was specifically created to educate governing officials of special districts, consisted of 4 curriculum-based courses.

Today, this program is now the Special District Leadership Academy and is offered as a two and a half day conference in two California locations. In 2017, CSDA began offering a returning attendee schedule as part of the program, for board members looking to further enhance their knowledge of governance responsibilities.

The Leave Our Community Assets Local (LOCAL) Coalition was formed around the growing imperative to protect our local revenues and services. Recognizing that collaborative efforts between all local government service provides is essential.

CSDA, League of California Cities, and California State Association of Counties (CSAC) joined together to form LOCAL!

667 TOTAL MEMBERS IN 2002

Volume 14 • Issue 3

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FEATURE

THE

NEED TO LEAD “ Le a de r s h i p has got n o t h i n g t o do with f i gu r i n g i t o u t and e ve r yt h i n g t o d o with f e e l i n g i t o u t .”

TROY HAZARD, SPEAKER ON LEADERSHIP, STRATEGY, GROWTH AND CHANGE KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THE 2019 CSDA GENERAL MANAGER LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Amazon business books best selling author!

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I can recall standing in a function room of a hotel in Montreal, it was an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) university event, one of many I had been to, but this one was different. We’d just finished a board meeting, my first as Global President Elect. I was about to really feel what it would be like to take up my global leadership position of the organization.

EO, at the time, was an organization of 6,500 members. The combined revenue of member businesses was just over $100 billion; the average member age was 36. This group represented the best of young business people and leaders on the planet.

With nine of my colleagues on the Global Board, our job was to lead leaders who lead leaders. I was about to step into a role where I had to lead a bunch of volunteers, and what’s more a group of entrepreneur volunteers, AND get them to do what I wanted them to do, without telling them what to do.

From my experience as the global president of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization I learned many leadership lessons; let me share just a few.

I learned that there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance in a leader. Confidence is driven by ability, truth, and honesty. Arrogance is driven by ego and fear. A confident leader inspires people such that they want to be led. An arrogant leader threatens people to follow.

I learned that so long as I remained confident and I remained true, this in turn made it easier to deal with the many issues that were put in front of me, as I only had one thing as a reference point, the truth.

So I did not waste time looking for ways to dodge the hard questions or sideline the real issues. I just hit them head on as best I knew how. The simplicity of this strategy then allowed me the time to work on developing core leadership traits to give me a road map as to how I should be treating those I led.

I worked out that there are four key leadership character traits in a true leader; • Master • Mentor • Manager • Mate California Special Districts • May-June 2019

2019 GENERAL MANAGER LEADERSHIP SUMMIT KEYNOTE SPEAKER

The Master – The Master is the visionary. The Master is the person that can see round corners and anticipate what’s next in any environment. They do this through intuition. They trust, and live, off their own intuition. They are at one with themselves and in touch with who they are and their reality. They are aware.

The Master lives in truth.

The Master has values, and their values keep them in check and in touch with their reality, and stop them from cutting corners to get the job done. Leaders do not cut corners. They stop at them, look around to see which direction they should go, and then confidently lead their team around the corner.

The Master also shows vulnerability.

I think it’s a bit of a fallacy that a leader needs to hide emotion. Quite possibly 3040 years ago that was the case. The belief back then was that to lead you needed to

be tough. Not anymore.

To lead, don’t be afraid to show your need.

The Mentor – The Mentor is the teacher. But to be a teacher you must first learn what you are to teach. The teacher must be open to continually being taught, and not just by their own mentors and peers, but by their subordinates and those they lead. Only then will the Mentor be able to match the wealth of knowledge from the old, to the potential next big idea of the young.

In other words, learn how to learn, while you teach.

The Manager – The manager personality trait is all about action! And not that of your staff or those you are to lead, but your own actions. Because your actions define how they will act.

To be a true manager you need to have discipline. Your discipline shows others discipline. So too your respect shows others respect.

Unless YOU have shown discipline FIRST, unless YOU have shown respect FIRST, then you cannot possibly expect either from your team as their leader.

The Mate - Everyone likes to be liked. You don’t want to be the bad guy.

You want to be seen as the leader that people want to follow.

The Mate personality trait is a tough one to balance. You need to be friendly but firm, empathetic to everyone’s life drama, yet distant enough not to become part of their life drama. It’s not hard to work out the mate trait. It just takes a little understanding and empathy. Key to this trait is to remember that, if you don’t show you care, they won’t either.

Legal and financial challenges impede the building and maintenance of critical infrastructure, and can be as complicated as the design plans themselves. To complete projects successfully and on budget, Special Districts turn to BB&K for all aspects of public contracting — from planning and property acquisition through procurement, construction and project closeout.

www.BBKlaw.com Offices throughout California and in Washington, D.C.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

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IN BRIEF

DISTRICT TRANSPARENCY CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE

SHOW YOUR DISTRICT’S COMMITMENT TO BEING OPEN AND ACCESSIBLE. SPECIAL DISTRICT LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION

The District Transparency Certificate of Excellence was created to promote transparency in the operations and governance of special districts. There are no fees for this certificate and districts will be recognized for two full years.

Earning the certificate is a tangible acknowledgement of transparency efforts. Demonstrate to your constituents and other stakeholders your district’s commitment to being open and accessible to them.

1112 I Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814 26

•

t: 916.231.2909

•

www.sdlf.org California Special Districts • May-June 2019

LET’S CONNECT

CSDA’s 2019

Volume 14 • Issue 3

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Accounting

Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf, LLP 1123 Chapala Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 www.bpw.com Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf is a leading accounting/ consulting firm offering a full suite of services dedicated to special districts. Our team of auditors will provide a thorough assessment of your accounting procedures and deliver a comprehensive analysis to enhance quality, transparency, and best practices.

Blomberg & Griffin Accountancy Corporation 1013 N. California Street Stockton, CA 95202 www.blombergcpa.com Blomberg & Griffin provides a wide range of services to individuals and businesses in a variety of industries. At Blomberg & Griffin, we strive to meet each client’s specific needs in planning for the future and achieving their goals in an ever-changing financial and regulatory environment.

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP) 2210 E. Route 66 Glendora, CA 91740 www.CLAconnect.com CLA is a professional services firm delivering integrated advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax and consulting to help our special district clients succeed.

James Marta & Company

Certified PubliC ACCountAnts Accounting, Auditing, Consulting and Tax

GASB 45 Solutions

JamesLOW Marta & Company COST alternativeLLP, CPAs to aAvenue, full actuarial report.

701 Howe Suite E3 Sacramento, CA 95825 (916) 993-9494 n www.jpmcpa.com www.jpmcpa.com We are a certified public accounting firm providing services to special districts, including audit, accounting, tax, bonded debt and arbitrage calculations, pension and OPEB liability calculations, and custom training seminars on all financial matters.

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Mann, Urrutia, Nelson CPAs & Associates 1760 Creekside Oaks Drive, Suite 160 Sacramento, CA 95833 www.muncpas.com Mann, Urrutia, Nelson CPAs & Associates is an established and respected full-service accounting and auditing firm offering audit, tax, consulting, litigation support, business valuations, and forensic accounting services. We specialize in government, non-profit, retirement plans, and small business audits and accounting services.

Maze & Associates 3478 Buskirk Avenue, Suite 215 Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 www.mazeassociates.com Maze & Associates is a leading northern California accounting firm specializing in municipal and nonprofit audit, tax, and security reviews, as well as PCI Scans and Microsoft Certified training. We can help you with implementing new GASB regulations, tax planning, or FISMA and NIST compliance guidelines.

Nigro & Nigro, PC 25220 Hancock Avenue, Suite 400 Murrieta, CA 92562 www.nncpas.com At Nigro & Nigro, we have a strong reputation for providing quality audit services to a wide range of government organizations including municipalities, special districts, and school districts.

Rahban CPA & Consulting, Inc. 10940 Wilshire Blvd Suite 1600 Los Angeles, CA 90024-4338 www.rahbancpa.com Our financial management and accounting consulting services will help propel your organization forward.

We will review, recommend, and implement the steps needed for your organization to properly account for and report its financial transactions.

Rogers, Anderson, Malody & Scott, LLP 735 E. Carnegie Drive, Suite 100 San Bernardino, CA 92408 www.ramscpa.net Rogers, Anderson, Malody & Scott, LLP is a fullservice accounting firm providing audit, accounting support, and consulting services to the government sector including California special districts.

Teaman, Ramirez & Smith, Inc. 4201 Brockton Avenue, Suite 100 Riverside, CA 92501-3431 www.trscpas.com As a full-service CPA firm, we have provided accounting, auditing and consulting services to California governments for over 80 years. Our services also include tax preparation, management consulting, and accounting assistance services.

The Pun Group, LLP 200 E. Sandpointe, Suite 600 Santa Ana, CA 92707 www.pungroup.com The Pun Group, LLP is a full-service accounting and advisory public accounting firm providing core services of audit and assurance and tax services to governmental and not-for-profit organizations.

Architecture/ Design

Ward-Young Architecture & Planning 12010 Donner Pass Road, Suite 201 Truckee, CA 96161 www.wyarch.com Design excellence, personal attention, cost awareness, and the high level of professional integrity are the foundations upon which client relationships are built at Ward-Young Architecture and Planning.

Banking Bank of the West 500 Capitol Mall, Suite 1200 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.bankofthewest.com/commercial-banking/ industry/government.html Our Bank of the West Government Banking Relationship Managers have decades of experience working in partnership with special districts providing banking services that help optimize cash flow and increase operating efficiency.

2019 CSDA Buyers Guide

Banner Bank 1 Parkcenter Drive, Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95825 www.bannerbank.com Banner Bank provides tax-exempt and taxable private-placement bond financing for special districts and small municipalities. We’re a regional community bank with full deposit and treasury services as well.

BBVA Compass 2850 East Camelback Road, Suite 140 Phoenix, AZ 85016 www.bbvacompass.com BBVA Compass is a leading U.S. bank providing banking and tax-exempt financing solutions to government entities throughout the country. BBVA Compass has helped provide over $1.5 Billion in financing to California government and not-for-profit entities.

BNY Mellon Trust Company, N.A. 100 Pine Street San Francisco, CA 94111 www.bnymellon.com With core capabilities including trustee, administration and agency services, and enhanced offerings such as reporting, transparency, and compliance solutions, BNY Mellon is a recognized leader in the U.S. public finance market. Trustee to the CSDA Finance Corporation.

Citizens Business Bank 701 North Haven Avenue Ontario, CA 91764 www.cbbank.com Citizens Business Bank is committed to creating and maintaining public entity relationships by meeting and exceeding our customer expectations.

CoBANK 1478 Stone Point Drive, Suite 450 Roseville, CA 95661 www.cobank.com CoBank is member of the Farm Credit System providing financing for agriculture and infrastructure, including water and wastewater. We provide flexible financing solutions for capital improvements, acquisitions, working capital and pre-development/design costs.

Five Star Bank 2400 Del Paso Road, Suite 100 Sacramento, CA 95834 www.fivestarbank.com Five Star Bank is dedicated to helping special districts in California reduce their costs, increase their income, and improve their efficiency. We have experience managing relationships of all sizes with personalized attention and service, making banking seamless so you can focus on running your special district.

Value Added Benefits

U.S. Bank 621 Capitol Mall, Suite 800, Govt Banking Sacramento, CA 95814 www.usbank.com For more than 30 years, U.S. Bank has met the financial needs of special districts and public sector organizations with tailored products and services and knowledgeable government banking relationship managers.

Umpqua Bank ENDORSED AFFILIATE 2998 Douglas Boulevard, Suite 100 Roseville, CA 95661 www.umpquabank.com As one of the West Coast’s largest regional banks, Umpqua Bank offers the best in financial expertise and local understanding, with solutions in public municipal deposits, municipal financing, commercial card, infrastructure financing, and equipment leasing and financing.

Wells Fargo Bank 1655 Grant Street 3rd Floor Concord, CA 94520 www.wellsfargo.com Wells Fargo Bank provides a vast array of financial services for the public sector, from treasury management services to investments and insurance.

Benefits/ Retirement Bartel Associates, LLC 411 Borel Avenue, Suite 101 San Mateo, CA 94402 www.bartel-associates.com Bartel Associates, LLC is a California based actuarial consulting firm. We prepare OPEB (GASB 75) and pension plans actuarial valuations and also provide general CalPERS pension, retiree healthcare, and other pension plan consulting and review services.

California School Boards Association ENDORSED AFFILIATE 3251 Beacon Boulevard West Sacramento, CA 95691 www.gasb45amm.com/default.aspx GASB 45 and 75 provide the opportunity to utilize an abbreviated actuarial report to address OPEB liabilities. CSBA partners with Demsey, Filliger & Associates, LLC to provide a low-cost alternative to a full actuarial valuation.

CalPERS Health Program 400 Q Street Sacramento, CA 95811 www.calpers.ca.gov/page/active-members/healthbenefits CalPERS is the nation’s largest pension fund and the largest public employer purchaser of health benefits in California. We also provide additional services including an OPEB trust, a 457 plan, and Long-Term Care coverage.

Nationwide Retirement Solutions 4962 Robert Mathews Parkway, Suite 100 El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 www.nrsforu.com Nationwide is the largest provider of 457 deferred compensation plans for public employees in the country. A 457 plan is a voluntary, supplemental, pre-tax, defined contribution program. Nationwide also provides 401(a) and OBRA services; as well as, Health Reimbursement Accounts through our proprietary Post-Employment Health Plan (PEHP).

PARS 4350 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 100 Newport Beach, CA 92660 www.pars.org PARS provides California Special Districts with innovative retirement solutions including the GASB-compliant, IRSapproved Pension Rate Stabilization Program (PRSP) and the PARS OPEB Trust, designed to help address unfunded pension obligations and liabilities.

Construction/ Engineering Keller/Wegley Engineering 209 South Locust Street Visalia, CA 93291 Engineering firm that represents special districts with their irrigation, drinking water, wastewater, and water supply needs.

Webb Municipal Finance, LLC 3788 McCray Street Riverside, CA 92506 www.webbassociates.com Albert A. Webb Associates has provided high quality civil engineering services throughout Southern California.

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Consulting Barber & Gonzales Consulting Group » CONSULTANT CONNECTION 8035 South Lake Circle Granite Bay, CA 95746 www.barberandgonzales.com/website We specialize in the development of organizational effectiveness, collaborative labor relations, and multi-party negotiations/decision making of all types. Specifically, these include conflict resolution/ management, strategic thinking, collaborative negotiations training and facilitation, and facilitated needs assessment.

BHI Management Consulting » CONSULTANT CONNECTION 2459 Neptune Court, Suite 110 Tracy, CA 95304 www.bhiconsulting.com BHI has worked with California special districts for over 20 years, providing consultancy on strategic plans, organizational health, board dynamics and training, and executive recruitment. Brent Ives, Principal, is a recognized trainer and author regarding board service.

CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE AND MONITORING, INC.

Contractor Compliance and Monitoring, Inc » CONSULTANT CONNECTION 635 Mariners Island Boulevard, Suite 200 San Mateo, CA 94404 www.ccmilcp.com Contractor Compliance and Monitoring, Inc. provides prevailing wage monitoring, auditing, and training to special districts and other agencies to assist in meeting labor compliance mandates relating to California and federal prevailing wage requirements.

Economic & Planning Systems, Inc 400 Capitol Mall, 28th Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 www.epsys.com EPS provides consulting services to public agencies in the area of public finance, infrastructure financing, financing district formations, fiscal impact analysis, development impact fee nexus studies, and other related fields.

ELA Consulting Group 351 Circle Oaks Drive Napa, CA 94558-6606 www.elaconsultinggroup.com ELA helps special district organizations improve key performance metrics such as safety, financial management and project delivery through focusing and aligning management on business and people strategies that build committed and capable teams.

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Hazen and Sawyer 11260 El Camino Real, Suite 102 San Diego, CA 92130 www.hazenandsawyer.com Hazen is an engineering firm focused on all things water.

Founded in 1950, our firm’s namesake created the HazenWilliams equation to determine head loss from pipe.

Today, Hazen is one of the top technical firms focused on water, drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and reuse. We have seven offices in California to serve you.

Kampa Community Solutions, LLC » CONSULTANT CONNECTION PO Box 3221 Sonora, CA 95370 www.kampaCS.com Kampa Community Solutions provides general management consulting services at an affordable cost, exclusively for special districts. Not just planning…doing! We contract as on-call, interim, or regular General Manager and/or advisors to districts to ensure delivery of the highest quality services.

NBS » CONSULTANT CONNECTION 32605 Temecula Parkway, Suite 100 Temecula, CA 92592 www.nbsgov.com Since 1996, NBS has supported many special districts with a wide variety of revenue tools, including Special Financing Districts (SFDs; special assessments/taxes), utility rate studies, fee studies, cost allocation plans, and other fiscal/financial analyses.

Nichols Consulting » CONSULTANT CONNECTION 1857 44th Street Sacramento, CA 95819 www.nichols-consulting.com With more than 24 years of experience in SB 90/State Mandated Cost Reimbursement, Nichols Consulting is the special district leader. We have presented as an expert at over 30 statewide workshops and are the Labor Relations/Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) Case reimbursement specialists.

Rincon Consultants, Inc 180 North Ashwood Avenue Ventura, CA 93003 www.rinconconsultants.com Rincon Consultants has provided a range of awardwinning environmental sciences, land use planning, biological resources, and remediation services to a range of organizations and industries since 1994.

Moving forward, we are expanding the depth of services we offer to help our clients achieve a more sustainable future.

SCI Consulting Group 4745 Mangels Boulevard Fairfield, CA 94534-4175 www.sci-cg.com Serving California special districts since 1985, SCI services include local funding measure feasibility analysis and public opinion surveys, district-wide revenue measures, special tax and assessment district formation and annual administration, Proposition 218 compliance, development impact fee nexus studies, utility rate studies, and LAFCo formation annexation applications.

Trendzitions Project Management 25691 Atlantic Ocean, Suite B13 Lake Forest, CA 92630 www.trendzitions.com We plan and implement new facility projects from start to finish. Develop the scope, budget, timeline and bid and select the architect and GC, manage the build-out, procure technologies/furniture, and manage the relocation.

Willdan Financial Services 27368 Via Industrial, Suite 200 Temecula, CA 92590 www.willdan.com Willdan Financial Services provides an array of financial and economic consulting services to public agencies throughout California. We provide water and wastewater rate and financial consulting services, and services related to the formation and administration of special financing districts.

Energy Solutions Rauch Communication Consultants, Inc » CONSULTANT CONNECTION 936 Old Orchard Road Campbell, CA 95008 www.rauchcc.com Rauch Communication Consultants has served special districts for 40+ years. Services include building community support through focused outreach programs; helping develop clients’ direction and action plans; and helping resolve difficult management problems.

ABM Building Solutions 5725 Alder Avenue Sacramento, CA 95828 www.abm.com/energy ABM provides infrastructure improvements with energy performance and savings guarantees.

Our programs provide general fund relief to the challenges created by PERS and utility rate increases.

2019 CSDA Buyers Guide

ENGIE Services U.S. 500 12th Street Suite 300 Oakland, CA 94607-4087 https://engieservices.us ENGIE Services U.S. is a national energy company that works with education, government, commercial, industrial, and other organizations. We deliver integrated Energy Effective™ programs that drive sustainable results. Over the past 40 years, ENGIE Services U.S. has provided more than $2 billion in savings for our customers.

SmartWatt, Inc. 3835 Atherton Road, Suite 6 Rocklin, CA 95677 www.smartwatt.com Comprehensive and budget-neutral energy optimization solutions to increase the quality of life in local communities. We provide turnkey solutions to handle every phase of project implementation including Energy Performance Contracts (EPC).

Southern California Edison Company 2244 Walnut Grove Avenue Rosemead, CA 91770 www.sce.com Southern California Edison, a leader in renewable energy, serves approximately 15 million residents in a 50,000-sqmi service territory. For over 130 years, SCE has been committed to keeping electricity safe, reliable, affordable and clean.

Utility Cost Management, LLC ENDORSED AFFILIATE 1100 W. Shaw Avenue, Suite 126 Fresno, CA 93711 www.utilitycostmanagement.com Utility Cost Management LLC (UCM) reduces utility costs through the analysis of data, rates, and regulations. The firm has generated over $150 million in savings and refunds for its clients since 1991.

Financing/ Investments Bartle Wells Associates 1889 Alcatraz Avenue Berkeley, CA 94703 www.bartlewells.com Bartle Wells Associates is a municipal financial consulting firm with over 50 years of experience providing independent expert financial advice to public agencies throughout California and the western United States.

Value Added Benefits

Brandis Tallman, LLC 22 Battery Street, Suite 500 San Francisco, CA 94111 www.brandistallman.com Brandis Tallman, LLC is an investment banking firm specializing in public finance. We are a full service broker dealer providing municipal bond underwriting and placement agent services to California communities. Consultant to CSDA Finance Corporation.

California Asset Management Program 50 California Street, Suite 2300 San Francisco, CA 94111 www.camponline.com The California Asset Management Program (CAMP), a Joint Powers Authority, provides investment services to California public agencies such as a high-quality market portfolio with daily liquidity and customized portfolios.

CSDA Finance Corporation ENDORSED AFFILIATE 1112 I Street, Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.csdafinance.net CSDA Finance Corporation is a non-profit public benefit corporation established to help special districts and other public agencies with cost-effective financing programs for capital improvements, equipment purchases, land acquisitions, and the refinancing of prior debt.

David Taussig & Associates, Inc. 5000 Birch Street, Suite 6000 Newport Beach, CA 92660 www.taussig.com David Taussig & Associates has provided municipal finance consulting services to public and private sector clients since its establishment in 1985.

California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) PO Box 2830 Sacramento, CA 95812 www.ibank.ca.gov The State of California’s IBank issues bonds and provides loans to state and local governments.

Programs include infrastructure loans, lending for energy and environmental needs, bond financing, and small business loan guarantees.

Holman Capital Corporation 25201 Paseo De Alicia, Suite 290 Laguna Hills, CA 92653 www.holmancapital.com Holman Capital Corporation is a direct lender that specializes in funding local governments. We finance your capital equipment, facilities, technology, and infrastructure needs. Funding amounts range from $250,000.00 to 25,000,000.00 with financing terms up to 20 years.

CalTRUST ENDORSED AFFILIATE 1100 K Street, Suite 101 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.caltrust.org Pooled investments solution for public agencies including four fund options, no minimum or maximum limits, and competitive returns with expert investment management.

Municipal Finance Corporation 2945 Townsgate Road, Suite 200 Westlake Village, CA 91361 www.munifinance.com Tax-exempt private placement financing of equipment, facilities, and infrastructure. Consultant to CSDA Finance Corporation.

Columbia Capital Management, LLC 100 N. Brand Boulevard, Suite 602 Glendale, CA 91203 www.columbiacapital.com Columbia Capital Management is an independent financial and investment advisor. We also advise on investment of idle funds and bond proceeds, assist with post-issuance compliance and structure NMTCs and opportunity zones.

Prager & Co., LLC One Maritime Plaza, Suite 1000 San Francisco, CA 94111-3404 www.prager.com Prager & Co., LLC provides strategic financial advice and debt funding solutions to California special districts and is the investment banker to the CSDA Finance Corporation.

Cooperative Funeral Fund, Inc. 74 Boston Post Road Madison, CT 06443-2157 www.cooperativefuneralfund.com Cooperative Funeral Fund (CFF) is a Preneed and Cemetery Care Fund Management Company founded in 1989. CFF manages the investment, accounting, compliance, and payout.

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Human Resources Bob Murray & Associates 1544 Eureka Road, Suite 280 Roseville, CA 95661 www.bobmurrayassoc.com Bob Murray & Associates brings a personal approach to providing quality executive recruitment services. Our clients include cities, counties, special districts, and other governmental organizations, both large and small.

CPS HR Consulting 2450 Del Paso Road, Suite 220 Sacramento, CA 95834 www.cpshr.us CPS HR Consulting provides a full range of integrated HR solutions to government and nonprofit clients. We align your vision, process, and people to assure you will achieve your agency objectives.

Koff & Associates 2835 7th Street Berkeley, CA 94710 www.koffassociates.com Koff & Associates is a full-service, human resources and recruiting firm specializing in customized services for public sector agencies. Our work includes class and comp studies, executive recruitment, organizational development, training and development, performance management programs, and HR compliance.

Regional Government Services Authority » CONSULTANT CONNECTION PO Box 1350 Carmel Valley, CA 93924 www.rgs.ca.gov Regional Government Services provides consulting, project management, training and support services exclusively to public agencies. RGS has served over 225 California local government agencies in the areas of HR, finance, strategic planning, communications, and other vital functions

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Insurance

Glatfelter Public Practice 183 Leader Heights Road York, PA 17402 www.glatfelterpublicpractice.com As a leader in community-minded insurance for public entities, Glatfelter Public Practice offers experienced program management and proprietary property and liability insurance coverage.

Special District Risk Management Authority ENDORSED AFFILIATE 1112 I Street, Suite 300 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.sdrma.org Our mission is to provide excellent risk financing and risk management services through a financially sound pool to California public agencies, delivered in a timely and responsive cost-efficient manner.

Coverages include property/liability, workers’ compensation, and health benefits.

Legal Services Aleshire & Wynder, LLP 18881 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 1700 Irvine, CA 92612 www.awattorneys.com Aleshire & Wynder provides unparalleled legal services to local communities throughout California – our focus is public agency representation. Our attorneys have served public agencies for 40 years and understand the complexity and variety of legal issues at the local level.

Arnold LaRochelle Mathews VanConas & Zirbel, LLP 300 Esplanade Drive Suite 2100 Oxnard, CA 93036 www.atozlaw.com Established and effective law firm with expertise in government agency representation as general counsel. Emphasis on environmental, land use, and natural resources laws.

Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo 12800 Center Court Drive, Suite 300 Cerritos, CA 90703 www.aalrr.com Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo is a fullservice law firm representing a wide range of special districts throughout the state. With nine offices and over 180 attorneys, we have experts to meet every legal need: labor and employment law, governance, construction/property law, water law, general counsel services, and more.

Bartkiewicz, Kronick & Shanahan 1011 22nd Street Sacramento, CA 95816-4907 www.bkslawfirm.com We are a Sacramento law firm founded in 1989 to represent local agencies and private clients on matters concerning water resource, land use, governmental, and related issues.

Bergman Dacey Goldsmith 10880 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900 Los Angeles, CA 90024 www.bdgfirm.com Since 1983, Bergman Dacey Goldsmith has been litigation counsel to numerous California public entities.

When litigation arises, having experienced counsel on your side can often be the deciding factor. We have earned our reputation as a no surprises law firm.

Best Best & Krieger, LLP 3390 University Avenue, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 www.bbklaw.com Best Best & Krieger LLP provides California’s special districts with legal counsel on: Environmental and construction law; labor and employment and employee benefits; the Public Records Act; public finance, rates and fees and more!

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 1021 Anacapa Street, Second Floor Santa Barbara, CA 93101-2706 www.bhfs.com Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP has a public agency practice with particular expertise in water law and environmental quality. The firm represents public agencies throughout California as general and special counsel.

2019 CSDA Buyers Guide

Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP 444 South Flower Street, Suite 2400 Los Angeles, CA 90071 www.bwslaw.com With offices throughout California, Burke, Williams & Sorensen specializes in representing public agencies.

Our practice areas include general counsel services, labor and employment, CEQA, public contracting, construction disputes, and eminent domain.

Carmel & Naccasha, LLP 1410 Marsh Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 www.CarNacLaw.com Carmel & Naccasha’s experienced team of attorneys are knowledgeable and dedicated to providing quality legal services to our public agency clients.

Our firm offers a high level of responsiveness and attention to our clients’ individual needs combined with decades representing public agencies on a wide range of matters.

Churchwell White, LLP 1414 K Street, Third Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 churchwellwhite.com Churchwell White attorneys represent special districts throughout California, providing general counsel and special counsel legal services in areas related to environmental and natural resources, water, employment, real estate and land use, litigation, and more.

Colantuono Highsmith & Whatley, PC 420 Sierra College Drive, Suite 140 Grass Valley, CA 95945 www.chwlaw.us Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley is a municipal law firm with offices in Pasadena and Grass Valley in the Northern Sierra Foothills. We represent public and private clients throughout California in municipal law.

Cole Huber, LLP 2261 Lava Ridge Court Roseville, CA 95661 www.colehuber.com Cole Huber LLP is founded on a commitment to excellence. With decades of experience, and the energy and enthusiasm of a dynamic legal team, Cole Huber LLP provides personalized service and achieves superior results.

Value Added Benefits

Devaney Pate Morris & Cameron, LLP 402 W. Broadway, Suite 1300 San Diego, CA 92101 www.dpmclaw.com A San Diego-based, full-service law firm with over 150 years of combined experience representing public and private entities; including community colleges, municipalities, special districts, public/ private corporations, and nonprofit organizations.

Gallery & Barton, A Professional Law Corporation 1112 I Street, Suite 240 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.gallerybartonlaw.com Gallery & Barton specializes in legal services associated with water rights, environmental, and public agency law.

Griffith & Masuda, A Professional Law Corporation 517 E. Olive Street Turlock, CA 95380 www.calwaterlaw.com Founded in 1920, Griffith & Masuda represents six special districts, a county, and five JPAs. Our water agency clients are located in seven different counties from Butte to Monterey. Our mission is to provide responsive, effective, and efficient legal services. Our challenge is to provide creative solutions to complex problems.

Hanson Bridgett, LLP 425 Market Street, 26th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 www.hansonbridgett.com We practice areas of law such as general business and corporate law, litigation, and probate and estate planning, healthcare, construction, intellectual property, labor and employment, insurance coverage and public sector law.

Jarvis, Fay & Gibson, LLP 492 Ninth Street, Suite 310 Oakland, CA 94607 www.jarvisfay.com Javis Fay provides cost-effective legal counseling and litigation services to California’s cities and special districts. Our firm has particular expertise in advising public agencies on land use and environmental laws, local government revenues, public contracts, construction law, writs of mandate and appeals.

Kane, Ballmer & Berkman 515 S Figueroa Street, Suite 780 Los Angeles, CA 90071 www.kbblaw.com For over 40 years, Kane, Ballmer & Berkman has represented a variety of public entities in all facets of public law. Our attorneys have represented community services districts and public cemeteries in addition to numerous municipalities and their related public entities.

Kidman Gagen Law, LLP 2030 Main Street, Suite 1300 Irvine, CA 92614 www.kidmanlaw.com Kidman Gagen Law, LLP. offers unsurpassed advice and representation in legal matters, with a specialty in water, environmental, and governmental law.

We stand for prompt, reliable, and accurate legal services with a proven track record of success for our clients.

Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard 400 Capitol Mall, Floor 27 Sacramento, CA 95814-4416 www.kmtg.com For 60 years, Kronick has been recognized as one of California’s leading public agency law firms. We provide general and special counsel services to over 100 public agencies throughout the state.

Kutak Rock, LLP 5 Park Plaza Suite 1500 Irvine, CA 92614 www.kutakrock.com Kutak Rock attorneys deliver value-oriented results to clients in the full range of public finance law and section 103 tax law, having served as bond counsel in 11,000+ municipal issues.

Lagerlof, Senecal, Gosney & Kruse, LLP 301 N Lake Avenue, 10th Floor Pasadena, CA 91101 www.lagerlof.com For more than a century, Lagerlof, Senecal, Gosney & Kruse has been helping clients grow and prosper.

Well known for our pioneering work in water law, we also have an outstanding reputation in general business, estate, real estate, tax and employment law, as well as general and civil litigation.

Law Office of Mary McMaster 336 E Pedregosa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101-1053 General Counsel for Goleta Water District.

Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 6033 West Century Boulevard, 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90045 www.lcwlegal.com Liebert Cassidy Whitmore is a public sector law firm with five offices throughout California and over 85 attorneys who provide expertise in employment law, governance, labor relations, business law, construction/facilities law and more.

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Lozano Smith, Attorneys at Law 7404 North Spalding Avenue Fresno, CA 93720 www.lozanosmith.com/localgovernment.php Since 1988, Lozano Smith has represented public agencies through nearly all legal issues imaginable.

With eight offices throughout California, our attorneys are able to provide the local and statewide expertise clients deserve.

McMurchie Law 101 Parkshore Drive, #100 Folsom, CA 95630 www.mcmurchie.com The firm is proud to have served as CSDA’s legal counsel since its formation in 1969. The firm specializes in representing a wide variety of special districts, joint powers authorities, and nonprofit corporations by providing legal consultation, board and staff training, and investigative services.

Meyers Nave 555 12th Street, Suite 1500 Oakland, CA 94607 www.meyersnave.com For more than 30 years, Meyers Nave has been dedicated to serving the litigation, transactional, and advisory needs of California special districts.

We are proud to serve as strategic partners with special districts in their frequent role as pioneers, addressing the most nuanced and complex legal and regulatory challenges.

Neumiller & Beardslee PO Box 20 Stockton, CA 95201-3020 www.neumiller.com Neumiller & Beardslee is a law firm that provides services to all types of special districts, cities, and counties, including as general counsel, litigation services, Proposition 218 procedures, environmental and CEQA matters, construction contracts, and personnel matters.

Nossaman, LLP 18101 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 1800 Irvine, CA 92612 www.nossaman.com Whether it is working to build public infrastructure, provide healthcare services, entitle private development, manage natural resources, complete real estate transactions, or increase business profitability, clients count on Nossaman to get the job done.

Orbach Huff & Suarez Henderson, LLP 1901 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 575 Los Angeles, CA 90067 www.ohshlaw.com Orbach Huff Suarez& Henderson LLP is a leader in public agency representation throughout California providing legal services on matters of construction, labor, employment, education, environmental, and charter school law.

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Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP 405 Howard Street San Francisco, CA 94105 www.orrick.com Providing bond counsel and disclosure counsel services to cities, counties, and special districts throughout California.

Porter Scott 350 University Avenue, Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95825 www.porterscott.com Porter Scott is a civil litigation firm defending a broad spectrum of legal needs for public entities for over 40 years.

Renne Public Law Group, LLP (RPLG) 350 Sansome Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94104-1307 www.rennepubliclawgroup.com RPLG practices throughout California, advising and advocating for public agencies, nonprofit entities, individuals and private entities in need of effective, responsive and creative legal solutions.

Richards Watson Gershon 355 S. Grand Avenue, 40th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90071 www.rwglaw.com Richards, Watson & Gershon’s team of leading attorneys have been providing practical legal solutions for local governments for over 60 years. We represent special districts, school districts, community services districts, water districts, airports, joint powers authorities and cities.

Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, LLP 396 Hayes Street San Francisco, CA 94117 www.smwlaw.com We focus on government, land use, renewable energy, and environmental law; offering an array of litigation, regulatory, counseling and planning services to public agencies throughout California.

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C. 660 Newport Center Drive, Suite 1600 Newport Beach, CA 92660 www.sycr.com We specialize in areas as diverse as corporate transactions, securities and complex business litigation, tax, intellectual property, employment, real estate, public law, and municipal finance. This enables us to represent some of California’s leading companies and municipalities in a broad array of complex and sophisticated matters.

PR/Marketing Communication Advantage » CONSULTANT CONNECTION PO Box 189573 Sacramento, CA 95818 www.communicationadvantageconsulting.com Communication Advantage and its principal, Marty Boyer, offer a full range of media-related communications services focused on public policy and local government’s needs, including media training, emergency communications, crisis management, messaging, and strategic communications planning.

Communications LAB 701 E Chapman Avenue Orange, CA 92866-1620 www.communicationslab.com Community outreach, public education, marketing, video production, website design, strategic communications, crisis communications, multicultural outreach, social media management, public relations, and media relations.

Hermocillo-Azevedo Strategic Communications » CONSULTANT CONNECTION 2100 21st Street Sacramento, CA 95818 www.hastrat.com Our firm specializes in issue management and crisis communications services. We help public agencies plan for and respond to reputational threats such as media investigations, litigation, audits, contentious public proceedings, and high-visibility personnel matters.

Townsend Public Affairs 925 L Street, Suite 1404 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.townsendpa.com TPA specializes in legislative, regulatory, and funding solutions for legacy projects such as water and sanitation policy and infrastructure, transportation, parks and recreation, public safety, economic development, housing, historical restoration, and education.

Purchasing Bid Fast and Last Auctions 17272 Darwin Avenue Hesperia, CA 92345 www.bidfastandlast.com Bid Fast and Last Auctions specializes in government auctions including vehicles, large equipment, firearms and all personal property. We cater to sellers and buyers. Download the Bid Fast and Last app today!

2019 CSDA Buyers Guide

GovDeals, Inc 100 Capitol Commerce Blvd, Suite 110 Montgomery, AL 36117 www.govdeals.com GovDeals assists public agencies deal with the often cumbersome task of selling surplus assets.

We offer a simple, highly transparent solution that generally brings returns ranging from 20-40% more than traditional auction models while maintaining complete control of your assets until they are sold.

Technology Solutions

AccuFund/Computer Works NFP Solutions 4345 East Lowell, Suite M Ontario, CA 91761 www.accufund.com AccuFund is a financial operations improvement specialist for government agencies, providing cloud and on-premise financial solutions including software and implementation services. AccuFund includes reporting to meet all of your needs - board, compliance, grant and internal, with an easy-to-use interface reducing implementation and training costs.

Black Mountain Software, Inc. 145 Southlake Crest, Suite 1 Polson, MT 59860 www.blackmountainsoftware.com Black Mountain Software specializes in integrated utility billing and fund accounting software for California cities and special districts. Rely on our easyto-use, effective software products to ensure regulatory compliance and improve your operational efficiencies.

California CAD Solutions, Inc. ENDORSED AFFILIATE PO Box 4779 Modesto, CA 95352-4779 www.calcad.com California CAD Solutions, Inc. specializes in GIS implementations that are deemed impossible.

CCS maintains a highly qualified staff of GIS professionals providing cost effective, downto-earth approaches to GIS. Call to schedule an appointment today.

Value Added Benefits

Caselle 1656 S. East Bay #100 Provo, UT 84606 www.caselle.com/ Caselle is a leading provider in government accounting software. With software for life, excellent support and over 40 integrated solutions, Caselle successfully powers more than 1,200 organizations across the United States.

Continental Utility Solutions, Inc. (CUSI) 300 South Church Street Jonesboro, AR 72401 www.cusi.com Continental Utility Solutions, Inc., (CUSI) is one of the nations largest providers of utility billing software and customer information systems, CUSI is committed to our clients services.

Global Mobile 1215 Hightower Trail Sandy Springs, GA 30350 www.globalmobile.mobi Global Mobile’s TXT2VOTE allows a districts voters to more simply access their elections and vote through their smartphones.

GovInvest 3625 Del Amo Boulevard, Suite 110 Torrance, CA 90503 www.govinvest.com GovInvest helps State and local municipalities reduce their unfunded pension and OPEB liabilities with unique actuarial software that provides agencies visual analysis, projections, and scenario comparisons for better informed decisions.

GovPayNet 7102 Lakeview Parkway West Drive Indianapolis, IN 46268 www.govpaynet.com GovPayNet currently provides payment services to over 2,300 government agencies across the nation.

Our 21 year’s experience is a testament to our industry leading customer service. (916) 450-1418

Granicus 707 17th Street #4000 Denver, CO 80202 www.granicus.com Granicus empowers over 4,000 government organizations to engage citizens and modernize processes. We offer the largest network of nearly 200 million citizen subscribers, and are the only FedRAMP-certified solution for government.

JCG Technologies 9941 East Mission Lane Scottsdale, AZ 85258 www.jcgtechnologies.com Integrated Software Solutions: Audio & Video Recording: Including Webcasting & Live Streaming Meetings, etc.

Laserfiche 3545 Long Beach Boulevard Long Beach, CA 90807 www.laserfiche.com Since 1987, Laserfiche has used its Run Smarter philosophy to create simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. California special districts use Laserfiche software to manage records, documents, and workflow.

Marketplace.city 1218 W Oakdale Avenue Chicago, IL 60657-4222 www.marketplace.city Where government finds great tech. Marketplace. city is the platform for government end users to find, validate, and procure innovative technology.

Pacific Credit Services PO Box 150 Fairfield, CA 94533-0150 http://pacificcreditservices.com Third party debt collections for government and private entities. No fees unless recovery is made.

Free Early Out Program.

Streamline ENDORSED AFFILIATE 2321 P Street, 1st Floor Sacramento, CA 95816 www.getstreamline.com Stay compliant with state and federal website requirements! Publish important content easily with Streamline Web, the only tool created specifically for special districts. With easy to use tools including agenda reminders, meeting and transparency dashboards, you will no longer have to worry about whether or not you’re covered.

SUEZ Advanced Solutions 1230 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 1100 Atlanta, GA 30309 www.utilityservice.com SUEZ Advanced Solutions provides comprehensive condition assessments, rehabilitation services, and sustainable asset management solutions throughout the whole water cycle.

Tyler Technologies 1 Tyler Drive Yarmouth, ME 04096 www.tylertech.com Tyler Technologies provides special districts and municipalities with software solutions to integrate financials, grant and fund accounting, HR/payroll, parks and rec, asset maintenance, and more. Tyler has more than 21,000 installations across 10,000 sites.

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FEATURE

By Nuin-Tara Key, Climate Resilience Program Director, State of California, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research

Special Districts Can Play a Key Role in Climate Adaptation California is already feeling the effects of a changing climate across the State.

Wildfire, flooding and drought, and extreme heat have impacted people and communities – damaging infrastructure and natural systems, threatening public health, and disrupting local and regional economies. And by end of century, we anticipate even more substantial change.

A few key findings from the State’s Fourth California Climate Assessment (released in 2018) include: • By 2050 heat waves in cities could cause 2-3 times more heat-related deaths • California could see a 77 percent increase in the average area burned by 2100 if emissions continue to rise (business as usual) • By 2100, water supply from snowpack is projected to decline by two-thirds (under a business as usual emissions scenario) • By 2100, 31 to 67 percent of Southern California beaches may completely erode without large-scale human interventions (under mid- to high sea level rise scenarios).

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These changes will impact every local government across the state, but it’s not all doom a gloom. Special districts can play an important role in building community resilience and preparing for a future of more extremes by incorporating climate adaptation and resilience into long-range planning, infrastructure investments, and service delivery.

The 2017 Little Hoover Commission Special Districts Report describes special districts as “the workhorses of public service delivery” and they “represent the most

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

SPECIAL DISTRICTS CAN PLAY A KEY ROLE IN CLIMATE ADAPTATION

common form of local government.” This report also recognizes that some special districts, along with other local governments, are on the frontlines of dealing with the impacts of a changing climate and many are leading the way nationally in preparing for climate change.

However, the report also found that many, especially smaller districts, have not been fully engaged in the state’s climate adaptation and resilience efforts.

Given the urgency and scale of climate adaptation needs in California, the Little Hoover Commission recommended the California Special Districts Association (CSDA), in conjunction with its member districts, partner with the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program within the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to (1) document and share climate adaptation and resilience experiences and (2) promote information sharing and collaboration among its members to help districts with fewer resources plan for climate impacts and take action. This recommendation also reflects an open invitation by OPR to build stronger partnerships with special districts from around the state – recognizing the critical role that special districts, along with all local governments, play in adapting to climate change.

continued on page 26

Advising

communities

SINCE 1959

The Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program

The Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program (ICARP) at OPR was established in 2017 via Senate Bill 246 (Wieckowski). The program is designed to provide a central point of entry for climate resilience issues, data, and technical assistance at the state level. Through its activities, program staff and the Technical Advisory Council that supports OPR coordinate climate activities at the state, regional and local levels. In addition to ICARP’s coordination role, the program is charged with creating and maintaining the Adaptation Clearinghouse (resilientca. org), which the Little Hoover Commission recognized as a valuable resource for facilitating coordination and information sharing between special districts, CSDA, and the state.

Expert counsel, informed perspective and sixty years of municipal law experience: that’s what we offer every public agency client. Thank you for placing your trust in us and we look forward to serving you for decades to come.

We are a proud sponsor of CSDA | www.kmtg.com

continued on page 38 Volume 14 • Issue 3

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FEATURE

What is resilience in California?

One of ICARP’s first initiatives was to create a strong and unifying vision for a Resilient California, to anchor the activities of both state and local agencies. In this vision: • All people and communities respond to changing average conditions, shocks, and stresses in a manner that minimizes risks to public health, safety, and economic disruption and maximizes equity and protection of the most vulnerable.

• Natural systems adjust and maintain functioning ecosystems in the face of change.

• Infrastructure and built systems withstand changing conditions and shocks, including changes in climate, while continuing to provide essential services.

The Council also recognizes that a Resilient California is one where no communities are left behind. We must work to ensure that our adaptation and resilience actions promote equity, foster community resilience, and protect the most vulnerable – those in our communities who have less capacity and fewer resources to adapt and thrive.

Given this broad view of resilience, and the critical role that Special Districts play in providing essential

LIMITED FUNDING IS ONE OF THE KEY CHALLENGES THAT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FACE WHEN PLANNING FOR AND IMPLEMENTING CLIMATE ADAPTATION EFFORTS. ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS HAVE SHARED WITH OPR IS THE DIFFICULTY IN FINDING STATE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.

services to millions of Californians, it is imperative that special districts and their associations are partners in creating and implementing state and local climate adaptation efforts.

Adaptation Clearinghouse

The Adaptation Clearinghouse is a key portal of information for state, regional and local governments—as well as researchers and the broader public-to find science-based information on climate impacts and adaptation efforts.

The Adaptation Clearinghouse pulls together a variety of different resources, searchable by topic, geography, and climate impact, including: • Climate impact assessments • Communication and education materials related to equitable, communitydriven climate planning • Data, tools, and research that provide a view of how climate change might affect California at a local level

Through ICARP, OPR developed a resource guide for local governments on how to define vulnerable communities in an adaptation context, including a summary of publicly available data and tools to support vulnerability assessments. This may be useful for special districts when conducting vulnerability assessment or developing community engagement strategies.

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California Special Districts • May-June 2019

• Plans and strategies that local governments are implementing to reduce risk and build community resilience • Planning and policy guidance on how to incorporate climate into local planning activities • Project examples and case studies related to working across jurisdictional boundaries, securing funding, building leadership and champions, and much more!

While special districts and their members are invited to explore the full suite of resources in the Adaptation Clearinghouse, a few specific resources may be of particular interest:

Climate-Informed DecisionMaking:

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) published Planning and Investing for a Resilient California: A Guidebook for State Agencies, which provides guidance for state agencies on how to incorporate climate into all planning and investment decisions (per Executive Order B-30-15). While the executive order does not apply to special districts, the guidance may be a useful resource for special districts on the consideration of current and future climate conditions, as well as how to prioritize equity and inclusion, and coordination with local and regional partners.

Climate-Safe Infrastructure:

To ensure that existing infrastructure is readied for climate impacts and investment in new infrastructure accounts for climate change from the outset, AB 2800 (Quirk, 2016) established the Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group (CSIWG) to bring together experts from multiple scientific and infrastructure disciplines to examine how climate change impacts can be included in infrastructure planning, design, and implementation processes. Given the important role that special districts play

Volume 14 • Issue 3

in building, maintaining, and operating critical infrastructure across the state, the final working group report, published in 2018, may be a useful resource: Paying It Forward: The Path Toward Climate-Safe Infrastructure in California.

Funding Opportunities:

Limited funding is one of the key challenges that local governments face when planning for and implementing climate adaptation efforts. One of the issues that local governments have shared with OPR is the difficulty in finding state grant opportunities. In response, the Adaptation Clearinghouse includes an “Investing in Adaptation” topic page, that provides information on a number of state grant programs that can support local adaptation and resilience efforts.

Data and Tools:

With so many models and datasets available, it is hard to know which is best for a given project or effort. Through the Adaptation Clearinghouse you can find a selection of publicly available decisionsupport tools, datasets, and other research products relevant for California planners and decision-makers. An important resource developed by the California Energy Commission is Cal-Adapt, which provides state-wide downscaled climate data and visualization tools.

OPR and CSDA Partnership – 2019 Activities

As a start to the partnership between OPR and CSDA, the ICARP program is planning a number of activities through 2019 including: • Adaptation member survey: CSDA and OPR collaborated to align the questions on the member survey with OPR’s Annual Planning Survey that goes out to planning directors across the state. This partnership will allow OPR to better understand how CSDA’s members are approach climate adaptation efforts and experience. Special districts will

receive this survey via email from CSDA this June.

• Case studies: CSDA will be collecting case studies through 2019 to document how members are incorporating climate change into their work. CSDA is using OPR’s case study template, allowing adaptation related case studies to be hosted and shared through the Adaptation Clearinghouse.

• Webinars: CSDA and OPR will cohost a webinar for special districts on how to use climate adaptation tools and resources on Friday, July 26th.

Registration information is available now on CSDA’s website under the “Learn” tab.

• Roundtable: CSDA is organizing a climate adaptation roundtable event for special districts in November 2019 at an East Bay Regional Park District facility, and OPR looks forward to the opportunity to participate along with other State and local partners.

OPR is excited to partner with CSDA in 2019 and beyond and is looking forward to fostering new, collaborative partnerships with special districts throughout the state to build capacity and support integrated approaches to building resilient infrastructure, social cohesion, economic resilience, and healthy natural systems.

The severity of California’s 20122016 drought was exacerbated by climate change. Researchers from the University of California at Davis estimated that in 2015 alone, the drought cost California $1.8 billion and led to the loss of over 10,000 jobs.

39

SOLUTIONS AND INNOVATIONS

“NO WIPES IN THE PIPES”

Regional Public Education Campaign

By Roni Gehlke, Ironhouse Sanitary District

Five

small wastewater agencies in suburban Contra Costa County have joined forces in a “No Wipes in the Pipes” public education campaign to help eliminate the practice of flushing wet wipes down the toilet.

While consumers are enticed by the convenience and hygiene benefits of so-called flushable wipes, wastewater agencies have been inundated with the problems these products create, not the least of which is clogged sewer pipes and pump systems. Despite their name, flushable wipes do not decompose in the sewer system quickly enough to avoid clogging sewer pipes, and if not monitored carefully can cause environmental hazards costing wastewater agencies and their customers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in cleanup bills and fines.

Partners with a common goal

By 2020, the flushable wipes market is expected to account for $2.4 billion in sales, roughly three times the $796 million generated nearly a decade ago. Wastewater agencies across the country have campaigned, with varying degrees of success, to eliminate use of the word “flushable”

40

on wipes containers. It was evident to the partners that calling upon manufacturers to change their packaging labels wasn’t going to work. The key, the group decided, was to take the message directly to consumers about the damage these products do to household plumbing systems as well as public sewers and the environment.

The partnership formed when Angela Lowrey, public information manager at Delta Diablo in Antioch, contacted four neighboring special districts representing roughly 300,000 wastewater customers. Joining Delta Diablo were Ironhouse Sanitary District in Oakley, the Town of Discovery Bay, Byron-Bethany Irrigation District, and the City of Brentwood.

The group developed a cooperative marketing and outreach campaign spanning three months that took advantage of paid and free advertising via newspapers, highway billboards, and even movie theaters. The campaign included news releases featuring quotes from leaders of the participating agencies. Large banner ads were placed on the tails of several buses whose routes serve eastern Contra Costa communities.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

Advantages to co-op advertising

By pooling their advertising resources, each of the five partner agencies benefits from a message with a much broader impact.

Campaign costs were divided based on each agency’s size; ByronBethany Irrigation District, the smallest of the group, serves about 3,000 connections, while Delta Diablo comprises more than 67,000 connections.

Further cost savings were achieved by employing the talents of partnership committee members rather than hiring outside advertising consultants and graphic designers.

Partners contributing resources to those efforts were compensated through a discounted share of the campaign costs.

“While participating in a cooperative outreach effort such as the ‘No Wipes in the Pipes’ campaign offers small special districts an affordable way to amplify an important message, it also helps build their credibility,” said Chad Davisson, general manager of Ironhouse Sanitary District.

When it comes down to it, small wastewater agencies are competing against the powerful voices of

Volume 14 • Issue 3

multi-billion-dollar corporations telling consumers that these wipes are “flushable.” It is no small task asking customers to ignore the corporate rhetoric and to embrace environmental stewardship.

“Small to medium size special districts often lack funds for in-house public information officers, education campaigns or advertising staff,” Davisson said. “Joining a cooperative campaign allows for the greatest exposure with the smallest investment, with access to more advertising outlets which increases the size of the targeted market.”

Smaller agencies in a partnership will also benefit from the larger agencies’ marketing strength and economies of scale, which improves public visibility, lowers costs, and creates more brand awareness.

Dividing the campaign costs among the five partner agencies allowed not only greater visibility for their message, but also access to advertising vehicles that might otherwise be cost prohibitive, including video and outdoor billboards.

For instance, eastern Contra Costa County is home to a large number of commuters served by one main freeway connecting to Bay Area employment centers. The partnership was able to purchase space on prominent digital billboards along this heavily trafficked corridor — something that would have been out of the budget for any of them individually. There was also an opportunity to advertise on movie screens at three of the region’s major theaters.

“There have been many great advantages to working with my regional partners on the ‘No Wipes in the Pipes’ campaign,” said Mike Davies from the Town of Discovery Bay. “Doing this alone would have been expensive and onerous. By joining

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continued on page 42

41

together, we are able to use the power of our combined purse to engage in a variety of communication methodologies and extend our messaging outreach to a greater audience. As a result, it not only made working together fun, it made it effective.”

Pooling resources goes beyond financial needs. Each partner committee representative brings a unique set of skills that all members can learn from. Brainstorming sessions for the “No Wipes in the Pipes” campaign frequently drew on experiences from earlier outreach efforts, as well as from professional contacts made along the way.

One of those connections was with a sanitary district in Casper, Wyoming, where a similar outreach effort had resulted in creation of the “No Wipes in the Pipes” logo that the Contra Costa partnership ultimately adopted for

its own campaign. The Wyoming district was happy to share its logo for an important cause and thrilled to see its use spread far outside its state of origin.

While results of the Contra Costa campaign are still being assessed, members of the partnership have already offered anecdotal evidence that the message was well received, with their customers having seen the no-wipes ads on buses and billboards or mentioning habit changes resulting from the campaign.

Ultimately repetition is necessary to cement the message with the public, but partnership members are making

strides already by continuing to use elements of the campaign in their individual efforts to educate customers about the hazards of disposable wipes.

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LEGAL BRIEF

©2018 Reprinted with permission from the Appraisal Institute, Chicago, Illinois.

All Rights Reserved.

Under the Influence: How the project influence rule can affect your appraisals

By Bradford B. Kuhn, Partner, Nossaman LLP

When property is acquired for a public project, most jurisdictions require appraisers to follow the “project influence rule” and ignore any change in property value as a result of the project. In its simplest terms, the rule says the determination of compensation must be considered as if the public project hadn’t happened.

The project influence rule has been applied throughout the country* and is intended to operate as both a sword and a shield for property owners and public agencies, preventing a party from being under- or overcompensated. Here’s how the project influence rule applies in various scenarios.

Disregarding negative project influence

How can a proposed public project negatively influence property value? If a government agency intends to construct a sewage treatment plant in a residential neighborhood, for example, the value of homes in that neighborhood may become depressed because of the deleterious effects of the proposed treatment plant. If an appraiser is valuing one of the homes to be acquired, it could be problematic to rely on recent sales of

44

other homes in the neighborhood to the extent that their sales prices were impacted by the proposed project.

As another example, say a public agency has acquired thousands of homes in a residential community over a period of 10 years as part of an airport noise mitigation program.

The remaining homes become less desirable as the acquired residences are razed and the area deteriorates. The valuation of the remaining homes should disregard these negative impacts on the neighborhood.

Disregarding project enhancement

How might a proposed public project enhance value? If a government agency intends to construct a new freeway through a rural area, for example, the value of nearby commercial properties may increase. If an appraiser is valuing one of the properties to be acquired for the free¬way, the appraiser may need to avoid relying heavily on recent sales of other properties near the planned freeway corridor to the extent their sales prices increased because of the project.

This concept recently was seen in Santa Monica, California, with the new Expo Light Rail Transit project connecting downtown Los Angeles to the famous Santa Monica Pier. The California Special Districts • May-June 2019

IN SITUATIONS WHERE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP IS TRIGGERED BY THE PROJECT FOR WHICH THE PROPERTY IS BEING TAKEN, THE PROJECT INFLUENCE RULE MAY ARGUABLY BE A BASIS FOR EXCLUDING EVIDENCE OF CONTAMINATION.

project’s first phase is complete and operational, and the second phase is under construction.

Home prices in Santa Monica already were improving thanks to a favorable real estate climate, but did the light rail project also affect prices? Market data suggested it did, as sales prices went up dramatically for properties close to the proposed transit route, especially since the city changed its zoning ordinances to allow for denser, transit-oriented development along the route. Similar properties about one mile away from the route were selling for around $250 per square foot, while properties a half-mile away were selling for around $450 per square foot. Properties even closer to the route were selling for upwards of $600 per square foot. While other factors may have contributed to the increase, there was a strong correlation between increased property values and proximity to the rail line, which was further verified by market participants.

Project influence in partial takings

How does the project influence rule apply in partial takings?

Using the example of a new freeway exit ramp once again, if the ramp was constructed in a rural area, property in the immediate vicinity could be expected to increase in value. Therefore, while the property’s highest and best use might have been farmland before the ramp was built, it could be highway-oriented retail once the project is complete.

A total taking of a parcel for the exit ramp would require it to be valued at its original highest and best use, as if there hadn’t been an exit ramp project. If, however, only a portion of a property were taken for the ramp, the compensation question would require a before and after comparison of values.

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continued on page 46 Volume 14 • Issue 3

45

In the after condition, the appraiser would have to factor whether the value of the remainder property has been damaged by the taking (due to a change in size or configuration, for example) or enhanced by it, thereby reducing or offsetting some damaging components associated with the project.

Admissibility of project-influenced data There is no specific authority stating that any project-influenced data must be wholly excluded, but to the extent such data is relied upon, it may expose the appraiser to thorough cross-examination about whether comparable data is reliable and how the appraiser disregarded any increase or decrease in value due to the project.

However, disregarding all influencing data may leave appraisers with little to no comparable data, or leave them relying on sales outside the geographic region of the subject property, thereby creating more questions.

Appraisers can handle this dilemma by relying on nearby comparable data — even if project-enhanced — and make sales adjustments to account for project enhancement if those adjustments have some objective basis (such as discussions with market participants, brokers, or other studies or data). (See, e.g., City of Los Angeles v. Retlaw Enterprises, Inc. [1976] 16 Cal.3d 473, 482-483.)

The project influence rule and government regulations

Challenging a zoning regulation by a public agency as a defacto or regulatory taking typically is a difficult procedural maze that rarely results in liability. However, if an agency ultimately decides to acquire a property, the otherwise valuesuppressing activities may be disregarded under the project influence rule.

For example, it is appropriate to disregard an agency’s actions in down-zoning or otherwise preventing property development along the proposed path of a freeway widening project if such regulations were done to depress the property’s value before acquisition. (See City of San Diego v. Rancho Penasquitos Partnership [2003] 105 Cal.App.4th 1013; Department of Public Wks. & B. v. Exchange Nat. Bk. [1975] 31 Ill.App.3d 88, 334 N.E.2d 810, 818 [“Although in most situations a collateral attack upon zoning is not permitted in an eminent domain proceeding, that principle is inapplicable to the situation where the condemn or purporting to exercise its police power by enacting a zoning ordinance has in reality discriminated against a particular parcel or parcels of land in order to depress their value with a view to future takings in eminent domain. In such a situation such action has been vigorously condemned as confiscatory and the condemned may attack the validity of the zoning ordinance in the eminent domain action and if successful require that his property be valued free of its restrictions.”].)

Contamination-related project influence Can the project influence rule be applied in cases of environmental contamination? In situations where environmental cleanup is triggered by the project for which the property is being taken, the project influence rule may arguably be a basis for excluding evidence of contamination. But how far could or should the rule extend? If environmental cleanup is necessary regardless of the project but the contamination is found by the condemning agency, should its impact on market value be excluded because of how it was discovered?

My interpretation of the rule is that the contamination should be considered if it would have been discovered by a potential buyer performing reasonable due diligence.

Taking project influence too far

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46

Drew Hansen

Roy Silva

Seth Goldstein

Attorneys for property owners have attempted recently to extend the project influence rule well beyond its intended reach. I was involved in a case where a transit agency condemned an access easement from an industrial property as part of a proposed new transit station and then terminated the property owner’s license to cross over a railroad right-of-way, which was the property’s primary access point. The license had been in existence for more than 50 years, but was terminable on 30 days’ notice and contained a provision by which the property owner waived any rights to seek damages because of its termination.

The owner’s appraiser concluded California Special Districts • May-June 2019

that absent the project, the license would have remained in effect, or potentially converted to an easement, and damages due to the direct loss of access caused millions in severance damages. The public agency’s appraiser did not consider the loss of access because the owner only had a revocable license that contained a waiver of damages in the event of termination.

The key issue was whether the project influence rule meant the agency’s action to terminate the license must be ignored.

The court sided with the public agency, concluding that regardless of the rule, the owner had contractually waived any rights to seek damages for the license termination. In other words, the project influence rule does not write out of existence the parties’ contractual agree-

There was no debate that access to the hotel was blocked during construction, but for valuation purposes, there was significant dispute about whether the hotel should be treated as occupied or unoccupied.

If the public project was disregarded, the hotel owner would have completed the remodel well before the acquisition and the hotel would have been fully operational, leading to significant damages claims due to the temporary loss of access. If the hotel was treated as unoccupied, there were no damages because there was no interference with actual use of the property. Ultimately the matter was resolved because both parties wanted to avoid litigation.

The influence of a public project can be substantial and can take many forms, and

ments with respect to compensation. The owner also argued that because of the project, the property experienced a change in the quality of access, which caused severance damages. The court once again explained that because the owner had waived damages over the license termination, the owner could not recover severance damages for this change in access.

Another example involved an owner in the process of a substantial hotel remodel and a public agency project that would completely cut off access to the hotel during the project’s years-long construction, and possibly in perpetuity.

The owner halted his remodel, waiting out completion of the public project — which was delayed, so the hotel remained vacant for several years.

SAN FRANCISCO

because of its significant impact on valuation assignments, the project influence rule can regularly be fertile ground for disputes between property owners and public agencies. Appraisers who fully evaluate a project’s potential influence and learn the full scope and eventual operation of the project should be able to properly disregard project influence. I also recommend that appraisers discuss a project in detail with an attorney to ensure proper application of the law, as many impacts of a project may or may not be compensable.

Bradford B. Kuhn is a partner at the Irvine, California-based law firm Nossaman LLP, where he is chair of the Eminent Domain and Valuation Practice Group. He can be reached at bkuhn@nossaman.com.

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47

MANAGERS CORNER

Avoiding Billing System Debacles: Accuracy and Public Accountability Should Be Priorities By ByGreg GregClumpner, Clumpner,Director, Director,NBS NBS

SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM

The accuracy of customer bills sent out by municipal water and sewer agencies is reviewed far less than it probably should be. Particularly during implementation of a new rate structure, it is often unclear how the billing software will handle the changes and whether there will be any errors. Utilities should ensure that every customer bill is accurate, and as recent class-action lawsuits against local water and sewer agencies have shown, there may be more at stake than simply rectifying a few discrepancies in customer bills. For utility managers, this is your fiduciary responsibility.

Many utilities have older billing systems that are updated infrequently, if at all, and audits that check the accuracy of customer bills may be infrequent even for systems that aren’t all that old. Adding to the problem, system inaccuracies may be introduced over time as residential accounts change ownership, rental property accounts are opened and closed, and commercial account ownerships change. Inaccuracies are easy to accumulate, so a sound approach should include a periodic spot-check of both customer account records and bill calculations.

This article summarizes a few billing system malfunctions that municipal water and sewer utilities should be aware of. Besides risking the loss of customer confidence, agencies may also be under-collecting revenue. Some common billing system problems are discussed, along with suggestions for fixing them.

48

EXAMPLES OF BILLING SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS

Implementing new water rates may introduce errors into a utility’s billing system, errors which may be related to either the rate increases and/or the new rate design. For example, the amount of revenue collected from fixed vs. volumetric charges may change, or the utility may be adopting a more complicated rate design such as budget-based rates.” New sewer rates might include adding volumetric rates based on average winter water use. Other ways of introducing errors into billing systems include: • Inaccurately inputting new rate structures into the billing system.

• Misapplying metered consumption to tiered water rates.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

• Miscalculating average winterwater use by the new volumetric sewer rates.

• Assigning incorrect customer class codes (e.g., if multi-family accounts are now counted in the commercial rather than residential class).

• Not fully understanding the intricacies of how the new rate design should be incorporated into the billing software.

A few examples of billing system debacles are presented in the following sections, and although the system specifics are omitted, each represents actual situations as encountered by the authors: New Water Rate Design –Years ago, a large water utility adopted water-budget based tiered rates, which required re-calculating residential bills to reflect individual parcel data. During the first summer, one upset customer walked into the mayor’s office with an $800+ water bill demanding to know, “What is going on?” Many other customers were also over-charged. A quick audit showed that at least 30% of bills were not accurately calculated and that the problem was rooted in how parcel-based water consumption records were used in calculating bills under the new budget-based tiered rate structure. Unfortunately, the decision-makers who adopted this complex new rate structure assumed it could be easily incorporated into the existing billing system. Meanwhile, the billing system administrator resigned unexpectedly, just as the full impact of this catastrophe was coming to light.

New Sewer Rate Design – A sewer utility adopted a new rate structure that was designed to charge a volumetric rate based on each customer’s average winter water use.

This approach was used to charge less to those generating less sewer effluent, more to those generating more based on their winter water use. In a Mediterranean climate, this is the best Volume 14 • Issue 3

proxy for levels of household effluent generation because it largely removes irrigationrelated water use. However, in this case billing staff were unaware that there was a mechanism in the billing software to switch volumetric calculations between monthly and winter average water use, and therefore monthly water use was misapplied in many accounts. A quick audit of about half of customer bills indicated that 20% of customers were under-billed while 10% were over-billed. The bottom line was that the utility lost roughly eight percent of the expected sewer rate revenue.

In another case, a sewer utility was billing volumetric sewer rates based on monthly water use for several years, even though sewer rates should have been applied only to winter average water use. Although customers had regularly raised questions about why their summertime sewer bills were so high, the city was collecting additional revenue and was slow to make this correction.

Lack of Field Verification of Customer Accounts – It is easy to overlook changes in commercial businesses that occur over time, particularly with sewer accounts. Businesses frequently change or close, and when a different type of customer reopens as a new business, the billing system does not automatically catch this change.

One sewer district had a customer show up at the board meeting on the night that higher rates were to be adopted and said she knew of several cases where the business was closed, the building demolished, or the business was just not being billed. After postponing the adoption of the new rates, a subsequent field verification concluded that 15-20% of the accounts were either misclassified, not being billed, or, in one case, the structure had been torn down.

THE ROOT(S) OF THE PROBLEM

While new rate structures can often introduce billing inaccuracies during their implementation, there are other possible causes: Employee Training and Skill Levels – Through no fault of their own, many employees in charge of preparing monthly bills have inadequate training and/or skill levels to handle increasingly complicated billing software. This becomes particularly evident when extracting monthly water use and water/sewer billing data needed for a continued on page 50

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rate study. Managers often assume that since monthly bills have apparently gone out without a hitch, accounting staff must be experts at managing the billing software. To compound the problem, governing bodies also often assume they can adopt a new rate structure and it can and will be implemented the very next month, with little time to train staff, conduct an audit, or verify that the new bills are accurate.

Lack of Detailed Implementation Plans – Implementation of a new rate structure is often an afterthought. Managers may not be aware of billing software intricacies, or customer billing staff don’t fully understand how the new rate design was intended to work.

To further complicate the problem, software designers generally have a “coding-brain” that thinks in terms of software rather than how accounting staff will use the software, and accounting staff are not typically software application experts. When considering a new rate design, one of the first questions to ask should be, “Can our billing system accommodate this rate design?”

Outdated Customer Accounts – As mentioned previously, businesses change over time and unless there are procedures to ensure customer 50

accounts are updated, inaccuracies will gradually creep into the customer database. On the residential side, some water agencies have reported that they are aware of dozens, if not hundreds, of single-family accounts that have added a granny flat or accessory dwelling unit that has not been added to the billing system. Field verification, which is a time-consuming task, is often not a high priority. Under a new rate structure, the errors buried in the accounts might suddenly have greater importance to billing accuracy.

FIXING AND PREVENTING THE DEBACLES

Effective solutions to billing system miscues are often relatively straightforward, including the following: Additional Training for Billing Staff – It is not uncommon for billing and customer service staff to have insufficient software training and to not be particularly well-suited to solving software issues. Many billing systems could be used more efficiently if existing staff were better trained in their specific software features. Also, billing software is infrequently replaced, and if the original training was provided years ago, it may have been long-forgotten and/or the staff originally trained have moved on without adequately training

newer staff. In the end, billing system staff need focused training on the utility’s current billing software, and this team should conduct regular audits to verify monthly bills are accurate.

Conduct a Billing Audit and/ or Field Verification of Accounts – Typical billing inaccuracies occur due to meter misreads or data entry errors, but these are usually obvious and easy to fix. Systematic problems, however, can be more insidious and impact the entire customer base. For example, calculating average winter water use for individual accounts can be complex, as can be adapting bill calculations for tiered or budget-based volumetric water rates. Periodically spot-checking a sample of customer accounts is a good way to ensure the accuracy of bills.

Another recommendation is to ensure there are procedures for capturing changes in businesses or residential customer accounts and scheduling field verification of accounts, particularly in areas with new construction or renovation of commercial businesses.

This might include checking multimetered (and/or sub-metered) accounts, which tend to change over time. Billing notices should clearly show the components of a customer’s bill, and remember, customers themselves shouldn’t be a last line of defense against billing errors.

Update or Replace Billing Software – Replacing an antiquated billing system eventually becomes a necessity, and this can be costly in terms of both time and money. In order to ensure the utility’s requirements are met, have a written guarantee that specific performance standards for the billing software will be met. Don’t allow salespeople to promise specific features that the future installer can’t deliver; instead, make sure all contracts have explicit assurances of what the new system will do and that all deliverables are clearly defined.

Create a Test Environment for New Rates – When implementing California Special Districts • May-June 2019

new rates, a test environment should be set up in the billing system so staff can run utility billing at the old rates and new rates for a month or two before they are effective.

This will allow staff to test the new rates and “work out the kinks” to ensure bills are accurate before they are actually sent to customers.

In any rate setting process, allow enough time to implement new rate structures and ensure that bills are calculated correctly.

CONCLUSIONS

Billing system debacles are more common than the water industry would like to admit. Many water and sewer utility

Volume 14 • Issue 3

customers assume their bills are accurately computed and rarely check them.

Nevertheless, if utility managers place a high priority on accurately billing their customers, they should not only be aware of potential problems, but proactively address them. Key actions to consider include: • Evaluate current billing system capabilities before exploring new rate structure designs.

• Assess the billing staff’s training levels – particularly whether they can conduct audits to check the accuracy of customer bills, and then have them do it!

• If implementing rate increases and/

or changes in rate design, make sure there is adequate time to implement and review these changes before sending out new bills.

• Incorporate procedures for periodically fieldchecking customer accounts, particularly commercial accounts that tend to change business types over time.

• Plan for regular billing staff training, including attendance at industry conferences, to communicate with colleagues and billing staffs at similar agencies to learn from their experiences.

REFERENCES

Greg Henry, Senior Project Manager, East Palo Alto, provided review of this paper.

AWWA, 2017: American Water Works Association (AWWA). 2017. Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and Charges, Manual of Water Supply Practices, M1, Seventh Edition, pp. 105108, 389-396.

Dave LaFrance, Very Weird Customer Service, American Water Works Association, February 1, 2012.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Greg Clumpner, Director, NBS Utility Rate Group 800.676.7516 (office) 530.297.5856 (cell) gclumpner@nbsgov.com.

51

TAKE ACTION

SENATE POLICY COMMITTEE DECIDE TO

REMOVE CAPS ON IMPACT FEES FROM SB 13 AND SB 4 Senate policy committees have decided to remove caps on developer impact fees from Senate Bill 13 (Wieckowski) and Senate Bill 4 (McGuire) until a study on the issue is published this summer.

As initially proposed, the two bills that would have capped fees on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and other types of housing.

Developer fees are commonly imposed in order to support the purchase of infrastructure, facilities, and equipment needed to provide local services, such as fire protection and parks. They must already meet stringent constitutional and statutory controls that require the fees to bear a reasonable relationship to the impact of the new development.

The Senate policy committees decided that if additional controls are necessary, a more appropriate solution would be a comprehensive look at the Mitigation Fee Act, which governs developer fees. Current law, enacted by AB 879 (Grayson, 2017), directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to study developer fees and report with recommendations for changes by June 30, 2019. The fee caps were removed from both bills pending the study’s recommendations.

SB 13 previously would have prohibited any impact fees on ADUs smaller than 750 square feet and significantly limited fees for larger ADUs. When it comes to utility connection fees, ADUs already receive preferential treatment relative to other development. Under a deal struck in SB 1069 (Wieckowski, 2016), local governments may only impose connection fees on a subset of ADUs and limits those fees to the proportionate burden

52

caused by the ADU. SB 13 would have undone this deal, after only three years, by entirely prohibiting connection fees on any ADUs. SB 4 (McGuire) previously would have prohibited impact fees on “neighborhood multifamily developments” – up to a four-unit apartment in urban areas or up to a duplex in non-urban areas.

The bill would have expressly stated that this prohibition did not apply to fees for water, sewer, or utility services.

The impact fee restrictions proposed in SB 13 and SB 4 could not come at a more critical time for the bottom line of fire services already stretched thin by California’s ever more dangerous fire season. Impact fees pay for increasing firefighting capacity, acquiring new personnel, facilities, vehicles and equipment to maintain service levels and protect the lives and property within new structures, including ADUs. With substantial increases in neighborhood density, comes the need to purchase and crew additional fire response apparatus.

Recreation and park districts are dependent on impact fees to establish new parks as neighborhoods grow. Park fees were implemented during the post war boom to ensure that all California neighborhoods would have access to parks and open space. Some park districts report being dependent on Quimby and park development fees for up to three quarters of all their revenue.

Impact fees are an important tool for special districts to provide services, infrastructure, and quality of life for local communities. The developer impact fee caps in the earlier versions of SB 13 and SB 4 would have reduced local government funding for public safety and quality of life investments.

CSDA will continue to monitor the bill and provide updates once the results of the study are released on June 30.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

Video Monitoring Legislation Not Moving Forward in 2019 CSDA’s sponsored legislation, Assembly Bill 510 (Cooley), is not moving forward in 2019. The bill, which would have allowed special districts, cities, and counties to adopt their own video record retention policies to meet the specific needs of their agencies in lieu of the current one-year standard, has been made a 2-year bill.

In the face of opposition from the Consumer Attorneys, the bill’s author, Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Ranch Cordova), has decided to delay moving the bill forward in 2019 in the hopes that CSDA and the opposition might find some middle ground before progressing with the bill in 2020, the second year of the two-year legislative session.

The additional year to work on this legislation is an attempt to afford time to demonstrate to the opposition that public agencies are not attempting to delete potential evidence in litigation, but rather to save taxpayer dollars by no longer storing useless records at a significant cost. While delayed for a year, the proposal to preserve significant financial resources associated with the storage of useless digital video records is not dead. Between now and 2020, CSDA staff will be working with special districts, cities, and counties to educate legislators on the costs of video storage and the impacts the current policies have on our limited financial resources.

Thank you to those who have already submitted letters of support for the legislation. Without your support we would not have made as much headway on elevating the significance of the issue as we have. With your continued support, we hope to successfully move our proposal forward in 2020. Expect to hear more from CSDA on this issue in 2019 and 2020 as we will request additional data from your agencies about the use, storage, and sharing of video recordings at your district.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

Look for the updated Take Action brochure, designed to equip district leaders for grassroots advocacy and public outreach, at upcoming CSDA events, conferences, or when speaking to your public affairs field coordinators.

TAKE ACTION SEASONS OF ADVOCACY: SPRING • Visit the CSDA Take Action page at csda.net/advocate/take-action to download sample letters of support and opposition • Join Advocacy News at csda.net/advocate/advocacy-blog to receive the latest legislative updates • Save the date for next year’s Special Districts Legislative Days in Sacramento, May 19-20, 2020

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MANAGING RISK

Summer Recreational Exposures The Court of Appeal held that the Education Code allocates liability between school districts and entities allowed to use the school district grounds, including the booster group that planned and held the carnival fundraiser.

W

ith summer fast approaching there will be situations in which a member will allow the use of a play structure) bounce house, slide etc) at a district facility for a birthday party or special community event. A recent court decision provides additional clarity on the potential liability exposure to the entity.

• Brian M. Grossman v. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District • Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District (March 25, 2019) Plaintiff Brian Grossman suffered injuries after falling off an inflatable slide at an annual carnival fundraiser held at a school in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (the school district). The carnival was organized by the booster group and parent-teacher association (PTA) which are separate from the school district. The school district approved the use of the school for the carnival and permitted promotions of the carnival

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at the school. The school district did not charge for the use of the school. No written materials or oral instructions relating to safety precautions were provided by the school district. The school district did not plan, set up operate, or supervise the carnival or inspect the rides. The booster group hired WOW Party Rental, Inc. (WOW Rental) to rent and set up the inflatable slide and also James Event Productions, Inc. (James Event) to provide the other attractions and the generator for the slide. Plaintiff filed suit for negligence, alleging he fell because the inflatable slide was not tethered to the ground.

The trial CSDA court granted the school district’s Board and Staff summary judgment motion and concluded, “[W] ith no facts showing how [the school district] was negligent with respect to its ownership or maintenance of the school facilities or grounds, [Grossman] cannot meet his burden of proof to show [the school district] breached any duty towards him.” The trial court also ruled that plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact as to whether the school district was estopped from arguing Grossman submitted his claim to the wrong person. The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment and dismissed the school district’s crossappeal as moot.

The Court of Appeal held that the Education Code allocates liability between school districts and entities allowed to use the school district grounds, including the booster group that planned and held the carnival fundraiser. Education Code section 38134, subdivision (i) (1) provides “A school district authorizing the use of school facilities or grounds under subdivision (a) is liable for an injury resulting from the negligence of the school district in the ownership and maintenance of the school facilities or grounds. An entity using the school facilities or grounds under this section is liable for an injury resulting from the negligence of that entity during the use of the school facilities or grounds….”

The Court explained that there is no evidence plaintiff’s injuries resulted from the school district’s “ownership and maintenance of the school facilities or grounds,” but rather his injuries arose from the alleged negligence of the booster group and others by not tethering the slide to the ground “during the use” of the school grounds. In addition, Education Code section 38134, subd. (i) (2) clarifies that that the Education Code does not alter Government Code section 835 which limits California Special Districts • May-June 2019

a public entity’s liability to “an injury caused by a dangerous condition of public property.” The court stated that as a matter of law the inflatable slide was not a dangerous condition of public property within the meaning of Government Code section 835.

COMMENT Summary judgment was properly granted based upon evidence that plaintiff’s injuries were not caused by the school district’s ownership and maintenance of the school facilities or grounds. It should also be noted that a public entity should make sure that the owner of the attraction has proper insurance in place and the entity is named as an Additionally Named Insured for the event. ©Low Ball & Lynch, 2019 IMPORTANT LEGAL REMINDER On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown approved SB 1343, which amends Government Code §§ 12950 and 12950.1, greatly expanding the requirements for providing anti-harassment training. Previously, only supervisors were required to be trained and only for companies with 50 or more employees. However, the new law requires that both supervisors and employees be trained every two years for any company with five or more employees.

While there are many questions still outstanding as to the practical implementation of this new law, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s (DFEH) currently published interpretation is that ALL employees must be trained in calendar year 2019, even if the company provided training in calendar year 2018.

Highlights of the new law include: • By January 1, 2020, California employers with five or more employees are required to provide: (1) at least two hours of classroom or other effective training and education regarding sexual harassment prevention to supervisory employees; and (2) one hour of sexual harassment prevention training and education to nonsupervisory employees. New employees must be trained within six months of hire.

• On or after January 1, 2020, in addition to regular employees, employers will also be required to provide temporary or seasonal employees with sexual harassment prevention training within 30 calendar days after the hire date or within 100 hours worked, if the employee is expected to work for less than six months. If the temporary employee is provided by a temporary services employer, training must be provided by the temporary services employer, not the client.

• As noted, the DFEH’s current interpretation of the new law is that all covered employers are required to provide training in calendar year 2019, on or before January 1, 2020, even if training was provided in 2018. Thereafter, anti-harassment training must be provided once every two years.

SDRMA Board and Staff Officers

Staff

MIKE SCHEAFER, PRESIDENT Costa Mesa Sanitary District

LAURA S. GILL, Chief Executive Officer C. PAUL FRYDENDAL, CPA, Chief Operating Officer DENNIS TIMONEY, ARM, Chief Risk Officer ELLEN DOUGHTY, ARM, Chief Member Services Officer HEATHER THOMSON, CPA, Chief Financial Officer DEBBIE YOKOTA, AIC, Claims Manager WENDY TUCKER, Member Services Manager ALANA LITTLE, Health Benefits Manager DANNY PENA, Senior Claims Examiner JENNIFER CHILTON, Senior Accountant ALEXANDRA SANTOS, Health Benefits Specialist II PHILLIP BOTTOMS, Member Services Specialist II HEIDI UTMAN, Accountant JACK BUCHANAN, Accounting Technician HEIDI SINGER, Claims Examiner I TERESA GUILLEN, Member Services Specialist I DIANE DANIELS, Executive Assistant to CEO/Board Secretary

SANDY SEIFERT-RAFFELSON, VICE PRESIDENT, Herlong Public Utility District ROBERT SWAN, SECRETARY, Groveland Community Services District

Members of the Board DAVID ARANDA, SDA, Stallion Springs Community Services District JEAN BRACY, SDA, Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District ED GRAY TIM UNRUH, SDA, Kern County Cemetery District No. 1

Consultants DAVID BECKER, CPA, James Marta & Company, LLP LAUREN BRANT, Public Financial Management DEREK BURKHALTER, Bickmore Actuarial CHARICE HUNTLEY, River City Bank FRANK ONO, ifish Group, Inc. ANN SIPRELLE, Best Best & Krieger, LLP KARL SNEARER, Apex Insurance Agency DOUG WOZNIAK, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

Special District Risk Management Authority 1112 I Street, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95814 tel: 800.537.7790 • www.sdrma.org

55

MONEY MATTERS

IS YOUR TEAM PREPARED FOR FISCAL YEAR END?

By Sharon Rahban Navizadeh, CPA, Rahban CPA & Consulting, Inc.

“I Just Want To Keep My Head Above WATER!” How many governmental finance professionals out there have experienced the “perfect storm” around fiscal-year-end time? Have you found yourself to be positioned in the midst of a perfect storm year, after year, after year?

By that I mean, when you are trying to execute your plan for fiscal year end close and audit preparation, do you encounter staff turnover, new financial projects, complex financial transactions that require substantial time to understand and record properly?

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California Special Districts • May-June 2019

Not only are these factors for failing to keep your head above water, but they also lead to other problems such as: • Early “burn-out” • More staff turnover • The inability to meet crucial deadlines In order to handle these situations, I suggest the following: • Resourcefulness – searching for as much help as possible • Adequate Planning and Strategy • Frequent Monitoring Now, you may be saying “Duh”! But after acknowledging that you know the obvious, you may like to look closer as to whether you are actually executing on the solutions that you already know to be out there.

Here are only a few recommendations on how to increase your resourcefulness, to adequately plan for recording complex financial transactions, and for more effective monitoring.

RESOURCEFULNESS:

Do you have enough people? You may never have enough FTEs to get your deliverables done every year, but you would be surprised what types of help you would have access to at minimal costs. For example, you could advertise multiple internship positions at your local high schools and colleges at minimum wage or for volunteer hours. You could ask employees from other divisions/departments, who still have sufficient skills, for overtime hours to help out your accounting staff with time consuming data entry, and even with bank reconciliations (Yes, I have done it successfully). Further, you could examine more closely the tasks that your own staff are doing to prioritize their work and cross train them if needed. In doing this you will be making an investment for future years as well providing crucial assistance for the current year. All of these have one thing in common: • You will be providing incentive for volunteers to increase their professional development and provide them with valuable experience to put on their resumes, and also to be able to help in future years. continued on page 58

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Volume 14 • Issue 3

57

MONEY MATTERS

PLANNNG:

One big obstacle to plan around, before fiscal year end, is the implementation of new GASB or FASB pronouncements into your accounting and reporting procedures. I choose to write about this in particular since many of us don’t read the pronouncements that come out and mainly rely on our auditors to read, interpret, and implement the requirements of these pronouncements for us. Unfortunately, each of these pronouncements needs to be read and understood by at least one finance professional within your organization since: • They would know the organization better than an outsider to know what is/isn’t applicable • They would be the optimal individuals to coordinate gathering any necessary data needed to properly implement those accounting pronouncements • It also relieves the auditor of the risk of auditing their own work Secondly, for those caught in the perfect storm, the number and size of deliverables at year end can easily resemble the feeling of standing in a forest of only gigantic Sequoia trees and not being able to see the exit. The natural response to getting overwhelmed with all the deliverables would be to “make a list”, but I recommend doing a lot more than that. Here are the multiple lists and tools I recommend making: • A list of year-end tasks and deliverables with staff responsibility and name assignments which cover your CAFR, State Controllers Report, Quarterly/Monthly Close tasks, Carryover procedures, Audit request list

Address Rising pension costs with the PARS Pension Rate Stabilization Program (PRSP) • IRS-approval through Private Letter Ruling for Section 115 trust ensuring tax exempt status • Investment flexibility and local control over risk tolerance options • Potential for higher rate of return than your general fund • Economies of scale through combination trust structure allowing OPEB prefunding too • Rainy day fund if revenues are impaired or tough budget year • Funds accessible at any time for pension related expenses

For more information, please contact PARS at: (800) 540-6369 x 127 or info@pars.org; www.pars.org

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• A list of due dates and audit schedules on a calendar that gets shared with your staff • A list of communication templates stored in a central location • A list of complex financial transactions that have already occurred or will occur that you need help with recording and reporting, and finally, and most importantly, • A list of resources that you still need in order to accomplish all of these deliverables o You may need to reach out to get some interns or staff from other divisions o You may need to hire an outside/independent CPA, actuary, or appraiser to help o You may need to hire a report programmer to make your report preparation more efficient MONITORING:

So now that you’ve made your lists and attracted all of your resources, it is time to monitor how your plan is getting executed. Progressing onto year-end, any new staff will have to be trained and their work reviewed. Remember, the benefit of acquiring additional help comes from the ability to delegate to workers who are skilled enough to learn, who can work on their own, and who, once reviewed, can also learn quickly from their mistakes. Once you go ahead and review the work of those that are providing the added assistance, then this is also the time to do a cost benefit analysis of how much help you actually received.

Even if you have only saved one hour, that is still one hour that you can use to advance on another year-end deliverable.

Lastly, I would like to conclude these thoughts by recommending that help be requested and obtained as persistently as possible. Start planning early enough so you can have time to train people who volunteer to help you. Start planning early enough so you have time to review the details of what your year-end deliverables will entail.

Start planning early enough so you have time to secure the resources that will help you succeed.

When preparing for fiscal year end and audit planning, hoarding all the work to yourself, or accepting the defeat of hopelessness can lead to worse outcomes other than merely missing deliverables. There is help out there.

California Special Districts • May-June 2019

DISTRICTS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Lights, Camera, Action!

Student Video Contest is Underway

t s e t n o c n treach campaig rence public ou ffe Di e th e ak Districts M l districts. t is part of the nding of specia nt video contes s and understa es en ar aw ic The 2019 stude bl e pu CSDA to increas established by

O

n May 1, the Districts Make the Difference 2019 Student Video Contest officially launched. All high school and college students are invited to create a fun and informative 60-90 second video highlighting how special districts make the difference for California’s communities.

After the submission period closes on September 30, CSDA officials will score each video based on four criteria: 1. Accuracy and effectiveness 2. Creativity and originality 3. Production quality 4. Entertainment value

In November, the five highest scoring videos will be featured on the Districts Make the Difference website and the public will vote for their favorite video.

The top three vote-winners will receive scholarship prizes: • First Place: $2,000 • Second Place: $1,000 • Third Place: $500 Some CSDA affiliated chapters are hosting local video contests in conjunction with the Districts Make the Difference statewide contest. Students who enter the statewide contest are automatically entered in their region’s local contest if the corresponding

DUE

Sept. 30 2019

affiliated chapter is hosting one. The participating chapters will inform students if their video was selected as a local contest winner.

The 2019 Student Video Contest is a great opportunity for high school and college students to showcase their video skills and learn about their local special districts. Don’t miss out on the chance to win a scholarship! Have fun creating your videos!

Students should go online and visit www.DistrictsMakeTheDifference.org to learn more and submit their videos by September 30!

Does your district want to help promote the contest?

Resources are available to help you promote the student video contest on your website, social media, or in your office. Start spreading the word using these resources at www.

DistrictsMakeTheDifference.org.

Volume 14 • Issue 3

MAKE THE

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Volume 14 • Issue 3

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Your Community. Your Services. Your District!

We are happy to announce the launch of our new public outreach campaign, Districts Make the Difference.

This campaign is centered on the concept that special districts go beyond providing important services to their communities. They make a difference in the lives of their residents and help our state thrive. The goal is to bridge the gap between special districts and the essential services that millions of Californians value.

The first step is to visit DistrictsMaketheDifference.org. This new website features a simple-to-use toolkit filled with public awareness videos, web banners, posters, factsheets, and other materials that can be easily downloaded.

Follow, like, subscribe, share!

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MAKE THE

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California Special Districts • May-June 2019

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Volume 14 • Issue 3

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