The Ukiah Valley Water Authority held a regular water committee meeting at 5 p.m. on August 6 at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center, chaired by Adam Gaska. Currently, the UVWA consists of the City of Ukiah and the Redwood Valley and Millview County water districts. RV and Millview are managed by the Willow County Water District, but will transition to City of Ukiah management in January 2025. Other local water districts may choose to sign the Joint Powers Authority document that created the UVWA in the future.

The application for the SAFER Planning grant has been applied for. SAFER is a California Department of Water Resources program that provides funds to communities to ensure a safe water supply. UVWA plans to upgrade infrastructure using the SAFER grant funds. The planning grant is the first step in that process. Staff members Sean White and Jared Walker are working with the water engineering consulting firm Carollo to receive the grant funds and prepare planning documents. Carollo officials will review existing water systems and infrastructure in Ukiah, Millview and Redwood Valley starting later this month. White said, “There is still room in the grant application for more to join, but the train is already moving.”

UVWA is scheduled to take over servicing Ukiah, Redwood Valley and Millview customers starting Jan. 1, 2025. White reported that the consolidation effort has gone well. A consultant has worked with staff from all parties to ensure a smooth transition of customer data and the billing system. City of Ukiah human resources staff have worked with Walker and his office manager to ensure that salary and benefits are consistent for RV and Millview employees moving to Ukiah. White said, “I think we’re where we should be at this point.” Walker and White are working to ensure employees do not lose benefits or salary in the consolidation. Walker said the goal is that “nobody who wants a job loses their job and that nobody’s finances are negatively impacted.”

Attorney Phil Williams reported on the signed Master Tax Sharing Agreement between Mendocino County and the cities of Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Ukiah and Willits. (For an explanation of the Tax Sharing Agreements, see the MendoFever article on the UVWA’s July meeting.) Williams said the finalization of the Tax Sharing Agreement has been in the works for many years. The JPA provides for annexations of county property to occur in the future. The premise behind the Tax Sharing Agreement is to wean the county off tax revenue over a 10 or 15 year period so that there is not a quick, drastic loss of revenue to the county when land is annexed by a city.

Attorney and UVWA executive committee member Doug Crane said the tax sharing agreement is beneficial to the county. Crane wanted to know more about the withdrawal provisions. How can a party to the Master Tax Sharing Agreement go about withdrawing from the agreement? Williams explained that a party who wants to withdraw must give one year’s notice, which then takes effect after five years. This ensures that there are no sudden changes in the distribution of tax revenue if one party wants to terminate. Williams said the agreement contains “robust and helpful dispute resolution language. … we worked really hard to draft something that will last.”

The committee discussed the impact on a property owner in an unincorporated area of ​​the county that is annexed by Ukiah. In this case, Ukiah’s tax structure will be transferred to the property. This should not result in any significant changes to a property owner’s taxes, but what will change is which tax collector receives the money.

The meeting lasted approximately 30 minutes. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 12th at 4:00 p.m. at the Ukiah Conference Center.