Politics & Government

County Considering Water Tax for Cleanup Efforts

Tuesday is the last day for submitting public comments about the program to the Board of Supervisors, which will consider the ordinance in January, according to county documents.

The county is considering establishing a new water parcel tax that would go towards treatment of storm water run-off to reduce river and ocean pollution.

The tax would need to be approved by the County Board of Supervisors and ultimately, by property owners within county unincorporated areas.

The ordinance enacting the tax and creating new water oversight boards for the clean-up efforts is not due to go in front of the board until January, but as noted by local open space and wild life advocate Lori Paul, who sent out an email Tuesday on the subject, Tuesday is the final day to submit official public comment on the ordinance.

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People who want to submit an official public comment can email wqfi.info@dpw.lacounty.gov.  The full proposed text of the ordinance is to the right of this article, as well as some Department of Public Works information on the purpose of the ordinance.  More information is available at the DPW website.

The precise cost of the tax is not mentioned in any of the documents and would be determined and regularly monitored by water authorities and an oversight board that would be created by the ordinance. 

Find out what's happening in Altadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The ordinance divides the entire county, cities and unincorporated areas alike, into nine 'watershed authority groups" which would be composed of water experts appointed by the cities and communities of each group.  One representative of each of those groups would join four members of the public appointed by the Board of Supervisors into a 13-member oversight committee that would oversee plans and make fee recommendations to the Board.

Nobody serving in those groups would be compensated for their efforts.

Altadena would be divided between two "watershed authority groups," the "Upper Los Angeles River" group and the 'Rio Hondo River" group.  In both cases, Altadena's representative would be appointed by the Board of Supervisors, and she would also represent other unincorporated areas in the groups.

The fee would be permitted to go towards only the following categories of service, according to county documents:

  • Protecting and enhancing available water supply through rain water harvesting and ground water replenishment
  • Water conservation/reuse
  • Flood protection
  • Protection of public health
  • Protection of open space and natural areas that provide water quality and related benefits
  • Creation, restoration, or improvement of wetlands, riparian, and coastal habitats to provide water quality benefits or restore resources damaged by stormwater pollution

If approved in January, the Board of Supervisors would agree to authorize a ballot measure to be approved by voters.


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