BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Open Space Credit Policy Discussion.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Consider information provided by staff and provide policy direction as necessary.
Body
SUMMARY:
The purpose of this discussion is to review the District's Open Space Credit policy and receive direction from the Board. This policy was thoroughly reviewed during a series of Board discussions that occurred in calendar year 2013. Those discussions included status updates on July 23, 2013 and September 10, 2013 regarding a Board requested stakeholder review process, followed by a policy evaluation discussion on November 12, 2013. The Board reviewed the policy again on November 10, 2015 and requested staff to return in July or August 2016 with a detailed review of Open Space Credit cost recovery options, including tiered water rates and alternatives to reallocate costs across South County water users during the Fiscal Year 2018 rate setting process.
Background:
The District Board has historically recognized that agriculture brings value to Santa Clara County in the form of open space and local produce. In an effort to help preserve this value, the District Act limits the agricultural charge to be no more than 25% of the municipal and industrial (M&I) charge. In 1999, to further its support for agricultural lands, a policy was put into place to limit the agricultural groundwater production charge to no more than 10% of the M&I charge. The agricultural community currently benefits from low groundwater charges that are 2% of M&I charges in North County and 6% of M&I charges in South County. According to Section 26.1 of the District Act, agricultural water is "water primarily used in the commercial production of agricultural crops or livestock."
The credit to agricultural water users has become known as an "Open Space Credit." It is essentially paid for by fungible, non-rate related revenue. Under current protocol, ad valorem property taxes generate...
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