(a) Notwithstanding Section 6512 and the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Division 3 (commencing with Section 56000) of Title 5 of the Government Code), for the purpose of furnishing water in the district for any present or future beneficial use, the Montara Sanitary District may, pursuant to subdivision (b), exercise any of the powers of a county water district, including the power to acquire, operate, finance, and control water rights, works, property, rights and privileges useful or necessary to convey, supply, store or make use of water for any useful purpose, all in the same manner as county water districts formed under the County Water District Law (Division 12 (commencing with Section 30000) of the Water Code). The Montara Sanitary District shall otherwise continue to be governed in all respects as a sanitary district under this part, and the provisions of this section are intended only to vest additional powers in the district which the district may elect to exercise.
(b) If the governing body of the Montara Sanitary District determines, by resolution, entered in the minutes, that it is feasible, economically sound, and in the public interest for the district to exercise the powers specified in subdivision (a), the governing body shall submit to the electors of the district the question of whether the district should adopt those additional powers. The question submitted to the electors shall be in substantially the following form: “Shall the Montara Sanitary District exercise the powers of a county water district for the purpose of furnishing water in the district?” The district may exercise those powers only if a majority of the voters voting on the proposition vote in favor of the question. The costs of that election, including any additional costs incurred by the County of San Mateo for purposes of meeting legal requirements directly associated with the conduct of the election, shall be borne by the district.
(c) If the electors of the district authorize the district to exercise the powers specified in subdivision (a), the district shall include in any revenue plan developed as part of its exercise of those powers an item to reimburse the County of San Mateo the sum of one hundred eighteen thousand dollars ($118,000) for costs incurred with respect to its effort to acquire the existing water system serving the Montara Sanitary District service area. Reimbursement to the county shall occur within 180 days after the district receives any revenues from the sale of bonds, the levy of assessments, or the receipt of any other revenues to be used by the district in the exercise of its powers pursuant to this section.
(d) If the Montara Sanitary District assumes authority to exercise the powers of a county water district pursuant to this section, thereafter the district shall be subject to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Division 3 (commencing with Section 56000) of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(e) In enacting this section it is the intent of the Legislature that any service by the Montara Sanitary District not affect the approval or development of a project that includes units for lower income persons, as defined in Section 50079.5, and persons and families of moderate income, as defined in Section 50093.
(f) Upon request of the governing body of the Montara Sanitary District, the County of San Mateo shall provide the district with all books, papers, records, documents and other information, including all writings as defined in Section 250 of the Evidence Code, resulting from, or produced by, the expenditure of funds by the county to determine if the acquisition of the existing water system serving the Montara Sanitary District service area is feasible.
(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 296, Sec. 22. Effective January 1, 2004.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018