Napa County Municipal Code Ch. 3.54 Assessments—napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District

A. The purpose of this chapter is to set forth the methodology which shall be used in the annual setting and levying of assessments on properties containing one or more planted vineyard acres within the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District to assist in the funding of inspection, detection, prevention and education of Pierce's disease as stated in the Napa County Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Workplan, with the goal of preventing the spread of Pierce's disease by the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

B. This chapter and the procedures set forth herein are adopted pursuant to the authority of Food and Agricultural Code Section 6296.3, and shall apply after an assessment, not to exceed twenty dollars per planted vineyard acre per year, has been approved pursuant to Article 4.6 (commencing with Section 53750) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code. Annual assessments levied under the authority of Food and Agricultural Code Section 6296.3 may remain in effect for a period not exceeding five years, unless reauthorized by the board of supervisors.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

"Assessment" means those amounts assessed to properties located within the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District in accordance with the procedures set forth in this chapter.

"Assessor" means the assessor for the county of Napa.

"Clerk" or "clerk of the board" means the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county of Napa.

"Commissioner" means the county agricultural commissioner-sealer or the commissioner's designee.

"District" means the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District within the county of Napa.

"District board" means the board of directors of the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District.

"Fiscal year" means the Napa County fiscal year commencing on July 1st and ending on June 30th.

"Parcel of real property" means a unit of real property having a separate assessor's parcel number as shown on the local secured tax rolls of the county and consisting of one or more planted vineyard acres.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

(Ord. No. 1354, § 19, 3-1-2011)

Assessments may be imposed on parcels of real property within the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District consistent with the provisions of this chapter and Food and Agricultural Code Section 6296.3. The amount of each assessment levied under this chapter shall be determined by apportioning the total cost of the activities of the district in proportion to the estimated benefit from the services to be received by each parcel of real property so assessed. No assessment shall be imposed on any parcel of real property which exceeds the reasonable cost of the proportional special benefit conferred on that parcel.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

A. The district board shall, on or before the first Monday in April of each year, file with the board of supervisors a budget that sets forth all estimated expenditures of the district for the fiscal year commencing on the first day of July. A copy of the budget shall also, at the same time, be filed with the auditor of the county.

B. Each year, on or before July 1, the board of supervisors shall cause to be prepared and filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors a written report which shall contain all of the following:

1. A description of each parcel of property proposed to be subject to the assessment.

2. The amount of the proposed assessment of each parcel for that fiscal year.

3. The maximum amount of the assessment that may be levied for each parcel during any fiscal year.

4. The duration of the assessment.

5. The basis of the assessment.

6. The schedule of the assessment.

7. A description specifying the requirements for written and oral protest, and the protest threshold necessary for requiring abandonment of the proposed assessment pursuant to Food and Agricultural Code section 6299.

The report shall be filed with the clerk of the board on or before July 10.

B. Upon the preparation and filing of such report, the clerk of the board of supervisors shall publish a notice that such report has been filed. The notice shall also fix a time, date and place for public hearing on the report. The notice shall be published as provided in Government Code Section 6066, and shall state that objections or protests to the report may be filed in writing with the clerk of the board of supervisors at any time until the conclusion of the hearing on the report. To the extent required by Section 4 of Article XIIID of the California Constitution and/or Government Code Section 54954.6 and in accordance therewith, the clerk shall also give written notice by mail to the record owners of all parcels of real property subject to the proposed assessments.

C. At the time, date and place given in the notice, the board of supervisors shall hear and consider all objections and protests, if any, to the report, and may continue the hearing from time to time. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the board of supervisors may adopt, revise, change, reduce or modify any assessment to be charged, and after such modifications as the board deems appropriate, if any, the board shall adopt and confirm the report by resolution.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

The assessments as confirmed and levied pursuant to this chapter shall be set forth separately on the bill for taxes levied against the respective parcels of land and shall be collected at the same time, in the same manner, and by the same persons as the general taxes for the county, and shall become delinquent at the same time and be thereafter subject to the same delinquency penalties and other provisions as according to law. All laws applicable to the levy, collection, and enforcement of county ad valorem property taxes shall be applicable to such assessment; except that if for the first year such assessment is levied the real property to which such assessment relates has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value, or if a lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for value has been created and attaches thereon, prior to the date on which the first installment of such assessments would become delinquent, the assessment confirmed pursuant to this chapter shall not result in a lien against such real property but instead shall be transferred to the unsecured roll for collection. When collected, such assessments shall be placed in the county treasury to the credit of the district.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

A. The owners of parcels of real property who present proof to the district board that their land or any part of their land will not be benefited by the activities of the district shall be excluded from the assessment.

B. Government Property. The assessments established in accordance with this chapter shall be imposed upon real property owned and operated by a federal, state, or local agency unless the agency can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the publicly owned parcel at issue in fact receives no special benefit. Assessments imposed on governmental parcels hereunder, however, shall not be collected by the tax collector to the extent such collection is prohibited by law.

C. If exclusion under subsection (A) or (B) of this section is sought, the exclusion may be granted only upon written request filed with the district board. The district board, upon recommendation of the Napa County agricultural commissioner, and after a hearing, may then order the assessment levied herein on any particular parcel of real property to be canceled, corrected, or refunded in order to effect the provisions of this section. The district board shall certify any such exclusion to the county assessor and the county auditor or tax collector. All requests for exclusions must be received by the district board no later than three months after the date of the real property tax bill which shows the assessment for which an exclusion is requested.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

In addition to any corrections, cancellations, or refunds ordered upon the granting of an exclusion under Section 3.54.060, the commissioner may order any assessment levied under this chapter on any particular parcel of real property to be corrected, canceled, or refunded if such assessment was imposed in error and the nature of the error could not have been reasonably ascertained by the board of supervisors or by the property owner prior to approval of the report imposing the assessment. Application for correction, cancellation or refund under this section shall be made in writing to the commissioner within three months after that first date when the property owner reasonably could have known that the assessment was imposed in error. The decision of the commissioner may be appealed to the district board, pursuant to appeal procedures established by resolution of the district board.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

(Ord. No. 1354, § 20, 3-1-2011)

All funds collected from assessments imposed under the procedure set forth in this chapter shall be expended only to fund the activities of the district to prevent the spread of Pierce's disease by the glassy-winged sharpshooter, including reasonable administrative costs not to exceed five percent of the annual assessment revenues.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)

Any unexpended residue of funds raised pursuant to this chapter which remain unspent at the end of the fiscal year for which such funds were raised shall be carried over for use only to partially offset the costs of the district during the next fiscal year.

(Ord. 1208 § 2 (part), 2002)