Opinion No. (1999)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General ANTHONY M. SUMMERS Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE HILDA L. SOLIS, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a municipal water district impose a standby charge at an increased rate without providing notice to landowners and obtaining voter approval of the charge if the increased rate was specified in a previously adopted engineer's report covering the year in question and was approved by the district's board of directors prior to November 6, 1996? CONCLUSION A municipal water district may not impose a standby charge at an increased rate without providing notice to landowners and obtaining voter approval of the charge even if the rate was specified in a previously adopted engineer's report covering the year in question and was approved by the district's board of directors prior to November 6, 1996. ANALYSIS Under the Uniform Standby Charge Procedures Act (Gov. Code, §§ 54984 - 54984.9 ; "Act"), 1 public agencies may set a water "standby charge" each year for making water available to property "whether the water . . . services are used or not." (§ 54984.2 .) We are informed that…