Board Approves $9.80 Assessment

The Board approved an assessment of $9.80 per acre for fiscal year 2020 at their June 20 meeting. Based on assessable acreage of 71,332.5, this generates a projected revenue of $699,059. This amount covers the 2020 budget of $666,246, which is the amount approved by South Fork Kings GSA landowners in the assessment election passed in 2018. Items included in the 2020 budget are administrative costs of $73,130, professional services in the amount of $377,650, and a $43,586 contingency fund. The $9.80 assessment also provides approximately $33,000 in additional revenue.

For Board consideration, Assistant Treasurer Brian Trevarrow presented Board members with two assessment options, $9.34 and $9.80. Trevarrow stated the proposed budget amount of $666,246 does not include money for legal expenses nor allow much cushion for cost increases. Another concern is the potential unplanned costs that may arise from implementing a new regulation as comprehensive and complex as SGMA (Sustainable Groundwater Management Act). Trevarrow also noted to date only $627,000 of the $698,000 revenue assessed last year is collected potentially leaving a $71,000 gap in uncollected revenue for fiscal year 2019.

Considering all of these factors, the Board decided it was prudent to approve the $9.80 rate for fiscal year 2020 to ensure the basic costs of implementing SGMA are funded and to lessen the impact of any possible shortfall in revenue due to unpaid assessments.