May 27, 2026 • 34 mins
The May 21, 2026, meeting of the Sacramento Flood Control Agency (SAFCA) Board of Directors focused on significant funding updates and budgetary planning, notably highlighting that federal allocations for the Natomas Basin Project increased from $80 million to $108 million. Executive Director Jason Campbell presented a $92.3 million proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-27, where approximately 80% of project work is dedicated to the American River Common Features initiative. The Board approved resolutions to move forward with bond refunding and new financing for the Consolidated Capital Assessment District 2 (CCAD2) and the Natomas Basin Local Assessment District (NBLAD) to ensure continued progress on flood protection infrastructure. However, two public hearings regarding resolutions of necessity for property acquisitions on East Levee Road were continued to the June 18th meeting because a director's recusal left the Board without the quorum required to take action.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Good afternoon, welcome to the May 21st, 2026 meeting of the Sacramento Flood Control Agency
(00:12):
Board of Directors.
Would the clerk please call the roll?
Thank you, Director Desmond, Director Hulme, Chairman Kennedy, Director Hedges, Director
Cerna, Director Jennings, Director Kaplan, Director Pluckybaum, Director Megaviglio,
(00:38):
Director Kress, Director Abduz, Director Baines, and Director Stephens.
We have a nine-member quorum.
Thank you.
Will you please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
(01:21):
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
This meeting of SAFCA is being broadcast live and will be recorded and re-aired on Saturday,
May 23rd at 2 p.m., and will also be available on SAFCA's website within 48 hours after the
meeting.
Members of the audience who would like to address the board should fill out a speaker
(01:42):
form located here and bring it up to me.
When addressing the board, please identify yourself for the record and limit your comments
to three minutes.
Thank you.
At this time, is there anybody present who would like to address the board on an item
not on the agenda?
Hearing and seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the items for closed session
(02:04):
into the record?
Thank you.
The first item is Sacramento County APN 226-001002, property located at 5625 East Levee Road.
Property owner, Nick S. Avedis, on behalf of the Avedis Family Trust.
The second item is regarding Sacramento County APN 226-0010-003, property located at 5311
(02:34):
East Levee Road.
Property owner, Nick S. Avedis.
And the third item is Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency v. Tasso Peter Canolis.
Case number 25CV008783.
Thank you.
And do we have any public comment on any items in closed session?
(02:55):
I have not received any.
Then we will recess to closed session.
Call this meeting of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Board of Directors back to
order.
Thank you.
(03:16):
Would the clerk please call the roll?
Thank you.
Director Desmond?
Director Hulme?
Here.
Chairman Kennedy?
Here.
Director Hedges?
Here.
Director Cerna?
Here.
Director Jennings?
Here.
Director Kaplan?
Here.
Director Maviglio?
Here.
Director Krush?
Here.
Director Avedis?
Here.
(03:37):
Director Baines?
Here.
Director Stevens?
Here.
We do have a 10-member quorum.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Nothing to report at this time.
Next item, please.
And our next item are consent matters, items 1 through 6.
Is there any member of the board that has any questions on an item on consent or like
to pull anything?
I need to recuse myself.
(03:59):
I'm a prior owner of Wood Rogers, who's item number 6.
So you're just recusing yourself from item number 6?
Yes.
So noted.
Let the record reflect that.
Any others?
Move consent.
Okay.
One second.
Director Krush, it's our practice to usually step out of the room on recusal.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Here, let me get that for you.
(04:35):
I have a motion from Director Huynh.
Is there a second?
There is.
Okay.
A motion and a second for the consent calendar.
All those in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain?
Thank you.
And our next item is the Executive Director's Report.
(05:10):
Chair Kennedy, members of the board, Jason Campbell, Executive Director.
Just a very quick ED report today.
The items you've seen many times, but just want to update a couple of different things.
Of course, we had a wonderful trip to D.C.
It was a multi-purpose trip.
But ultimately, we did meet with a number of members of Congress, as well as OMB, with
some good news.
(05:30):
We had talked about the $80 million that was allocated in the President's budget for the
Natomas Basin Project.
We did learn that that was actually $108 million.
So that's a good positive move forward.
In addition, we now recognize that the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee has also
(05:50):
gone through their first pass of budget, and it remains in the budget currently.
So as things work forward with Congress, we're hoping that that will stay in the mix, and
we can continue to move forward towards completion of the Natomas Basin Project.
Also, we had our Planning Director participate in the Cap2Cap, as well as the National Water
(06:11):
Waste Conference.
So lots of good information coming out.
Lots of changes still going on, as we've discussed in the past with the administration's guidance
and coming out of ASA's office, but we are moving forward quickly to make sure that we're
adapting and keeping the projects rolling.
We had additional meetings with ASA and Civil Works.
(06:31):
We met with Army Headquarters for USACE, as well as the Bureau of Reclamation to discuss
a number of things, particularly the Folsom Dam race.
This is just a little excerpt of what was put in the President's budget, and now we've
recognized that it is actually in the Appropriations Committee's book, as well.
(06:56):
As we go into the next couple of items after this report, just a quick reminder that, you
know, we have a cost share.
It's about 10.5% for our federal programs.
We're going to talk a lot about budget and funding today, so I just wanted to keep that
on everybody's mind a little bit.
And of course, love to show our wonderful stars.
Those stars are active construction all over the place in Natomas, in the pocket area on
(07:22):
the American River, and also at the Sweeney Creek Pump Station, which I will get to in
just a second.
But today we will discuss a number of things.
We've been talking about our five-year funding activity review for quite some time, but as
we've moved forward, we've identified our project cash flows, we've identified a number
of needs for our projects, and that's what's really bringing forward the budget as well
(07:43):
as the bond activities that we're looking for.
So we're still driving towards levy certification, and we are starting to consider our post-project
land management and other pieces as we start to see those develop a little bit more grandly.
So again, my favorite picture every month is the Sweeney Creek Pump Station's coming
(08:05):
to it.
We're getting good progress, and hopefully things will get operational in the next few
months.
Any questions on that part?
Questions?
Seeing none.
Nope.
Thank you.
That's your report?
Okay.
That's it.
Thank you.
Is there any member of the public that has a comment on the Executive Director's report?
(08:29):
Okay.
Seeing none.
Next item, please.
Item 9.
Are resolutions related to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Natomas Basin Local
Assessment District and the Consolidated Capital Assistance District.
Excuse me.
I'm ahead, too.
Item number 8 is presenting the fiscal year 26-27 proposed budget.
(08:57):
Thank you again, Jason Campbell, Executive Director.
That's not the presentation.
They have to do something.
Perfect.
So it's May, and what that means is typically, except for last year, we have brought forward
a recommended or proposed budget to your board to get a preview and to make sure that we're
on the right track before we come back in June with the actual budget recommendation
(09:20):
as well as hopefully the final budget being approved.
So we've met with the Finance Committee earlier in the month, and we've also published for
the public hearing that will occur in June.
So the burden today is just informational.
There's no action to be taken, but we would look forward to seeing any feedback if you
(09:42):
have any.
So as we produce our budget each year, we have some assumptions that we like to make,
and it's fairly simple, and we understand that some things do change, like project priorities
and other fund things, but these priorities have not changed or these assumptions have
not changed in several years, and we're keeping moving forward.
(10:03):
We have four basic funds that we operate with.
Of course, our 325A Operations Maintenance and Assessment District is our general fund,
and then we have a development impact fee, and then we have two assessment districts
that are very much the blood for us being able to pay for our project efforts.
So Natomas Basin Local Assessment District and CC882.
(10:27):
For this coming year, we're anticipating that our project's funding sources is about $92
million.
You can see the breakdown.
Obviously, we have a little bit of reserves that we're going to be collecting and keeping
over the course of the year, but our fund balance, about $6.3 million overall, is broken
down to those components, as you can see on the right.
(10:49):
The O&M Assessment District has about $2.6 million.
We have the development impact fee with a little bit of funding coming in that's net,
and then, of course, MBLAT and CC882.
Excuse me, Jason.
Yes.
Director Cerna.
Thank you, Chair.
Jason, can you remind me, all of us, actually, what, if any, reserve policy we have in terms
(11:11):
of a threshold number?
So our threshold number is, actually, we have a tremendous amount of unfunded reserves.
I'm sorry, unallocated reserves.
So in the O&M budget, we are carrying about $11 million in unallocated reserves.
That is quite a bit different than what a typical policy would be.
(11:35):
The typical policy would be a percentage of the overall general fund.
This is an assessment district, and we have a number of varying requirements that move
forward.
So we have been making sure that we...
So we always treat it as a dollar amount, never a percentage?
Never a percentage.
So right now, if it was a percentage, it would be well over 100% of the allocation of our
(11:59):
$6 million general fund.
All right, thank you.
So moving on, we do have our total revenues of about $80 million, and that is indicating
that there is state funds that come in that are revenues for reimbursements, as well as,
in some instances, contracts and agreements for grants.
(12:23):
We have our development impact fee revenues that generate about $3.2 million.
We have some interest income from funds that we have in reserve, as well as assessments
that are collected.
And then we do some transfers in between accounts, or in between funds, primarily for
labor that goes to projects that reimburses the general fund.
(12:46):
And then, of course, we have our bond refunding and any issuance, where we're anticipating
about $50 million overall.
So we want to make sure that that's recognized as we're moving forward.
Again, our proposed appropriations are primarily for projects.
So you can see that the $68 million for projects and acquisitions is the lion's share of all
(13:10):
of our efforts.
We do have provisions for reserves that will go forward to the different funds, but we
also do have, you know, our salaries and benefits, which are, you know, in the grant scheme,
not large.
It's a small crew.
But we also have services and supplies, about $14.5 million that's getting spread out over
(13:30):
all of the funds.
And then, of course, we build in contingencies within our operating budget, because we want
to make sure with meetings once a month and project activities, we want to make sure that
we don't have any surprises with some of our line items, depending on construction.
And then, of course, we do transfer those dollars related to the revenue that's coming
(13:51):
from the project funds back into the general fund for our labor.
So I will, again, this is just the chart of accounts that break that down with all
four funds summarized.
Again, $92.3 million on both ends, and the financing on the bottom.
You can see the number 98 there, issuance of bonds.
(14:11):
We're anticipating about $50 million net, depending on how things roll out.
So getting to the O&M fund specifically, you can see the line items, really it's salaries
and benefits, some services and supplies, which includes our liability insurance, our
lease for our office space, and a number of other things.
(14:32):
The inter-fund cost recovery there, you see, is that's that labor that's transferring from
projects back into the general fund.
And then we have our financing components, which is, you know, a little bit of fund balance
plus $6.4 million that's coming in from the assessments for the O&M.
As were required, we produced this chart to show the number of positions, the position
(14:54):
allocations, the descriptions, as well as the salaries, and any adds and deletes.
So you can see we've made some small changes.
Director of Planning, retired annuitant, was basically reduced this year, and then a Director
of Engineering, retired annuitant, was added back in.
(15:15):
We have two vacancies overall currently.
So this breaks down the project expenses.
So you can see that 80% of the work is made up of two primary projects, American River
Common Features 2016 and American River Common Features Natomas.
Other projects are receiving portions of the allocations for the project funding that you've
(15:41):
seen in the other slides, and we'll break that down by project in just a minute for
each fund.
But you can see $66 million of this is project related.
So the breakdown for the development impact fee line items, you can see each there.
Basically it's, you know, for infrastructure we've got about $10.3 million, so those are
(16:03):
project related.
Some of that is work that we're doing over in the Elkhorn Basin with our state partners
with reimbursements coming back to us.
We also have, you know, the number of, well, again, we have contingencies built in here
simply because it's construction related.
We want to make sure that we have those appropriations already in place.
(16:24):
And then we talk about reserve release, we're pulling some monies from reserves.
And then we do have state grants and the development impact fee itself.
So we're anticipating about $3.2 million in development impact fee collections.
The Tomas Basin Local Assessment District, pretty simple.
We'll get into the details of this in the next item, or in the next report.
(16:49):
So the idea here is that the NBLAD project is basically running debt service at this
point.
We do have some excess after the collections of the assessments, and we roll that in and
we use that for project expenses as well as paying RD1000 for portions of the O&M through
(17:10):
our agreements and other pieces.
And then we have CCAD2, which, again, lion's share of all the work, all of the costs are
associated in the entirety of the 160,000 parcels that are paying for CCAD2 assessments.
So again, public protection is the number one thing in that infrastructure.
(17:34):
So you can see the line items, the number of charges that are associated with the projects,
and then, of course, the infrastructure number is $47 million, pushing on $48, and that fluctuates
a bit depending on how fast our core partners and others are able to make things happen.
So they will request costs from us as the year goes by based on what their performance
(17:55):
looks like.
So financing overall, we have, again, some operating transfers in from other funds.
We do have $16.5 million anticipated as reimbursements coming from the state and others, and then
we do also anticipate those bond proceeds, assuming that everything works forward.
(18:18):
So this is the slide that does break the projects down, so you can see the line items for each
project by fund.
So again, we do have a little bit of work that we're continuing coming out of the O&M
fund, District 1.
So then we work down to the development impact fee.
You can see the lines of items there.
There's a number of, you know, different activities that are continuing, and some are at their
(18:39):
last steps here before we close those out.
And then as we move down to CCAD2, you can see, once again, those breakdowns by each
line.
So again, $16.4 million in fulsome is primarily associated currently with the hydraulic cylinder
replacement as well as security for the fulsome dam rise.
(19:03):
Again, no action today, but I'm absolutely open for comments.
And then a reminder that June 18th is our next board meeting, and we'll have a public
hearing for the budget.
Thank you.
Questions?
Okay, hearing none, is there any member of the public who would like to address the board
(19:25):
on the budget?
Hearing and seeing none, let me first say thank you to Director Kaplan for participating
in the budget subcommittee.
Appreciate your time.
Thank you.
Next item, please.
Item number nine is resolutions related to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Natomas
(19:46):
Basin Local Assessment District and the Consolidated Capital Assessment District, number two, financing.
(20:07):
Chair Kennedy, thank you.
Once again, Jason Campbell.
So we had an item came forward to your board a couple months ago in regards to getting
permission to move forward with these bond refundings and some potential additional funding
through the assessment districts.
So this action today is intended to move that bond financing forward for these two issuances,
(20:36):
refunding the CCAD 2016 and the NBLAD 2014 bonds.
So just to get started here, we have a very large team, as you can imagine.
This isn't everybody that's been participating and helping move these efforts forward.
So the preliminary official statements and the resolutions and all of the information
(20:57):
that you see today has been a good collaboration of our finance team, our staff, as well as
the consultants and advisors that we've had.
So this group, we very much appreciate everybody's continuous effort.
We ask them to expedite these things because we want to make sure that we're ready for
market when the time comes, when it is appropriate.
(21:20):
So just a quick thanks to everybody on this list, as well as all those out there that
have been working on this with us.
So again, our intent is to make sure that we have our flood protection program continuing
to move forward and to completion.
As you know, most of you should absolutely know that we are pushing as hard as we possibly
(21:43):
can to make sure these projects get done.
Essentially three of these major projects for our core partners are essentially complete,
but we still are working very hard.
And as the numbers in the previous presentation indicated, Common Features 2016 and the Tomas
Basin projects are very much active, and we're trying to advance those.
(22:05):
So as we just identified in the previous presentation, as well, is that we have four
funds, but the two that we're talking about today are very specific.
It's the Consolidated Capital Assessment District 2 and the Tomas Basin Assessment District.
So the CC82 generates about $32 million annually in assessments.
(22:26):
That will continue, hopefully, until fiscal year 2047.
And like I said before, it's over 168,000 parcels that are included in that.
That makes for a very good base and diversified revenue source that allows us to go ahead
and make sure that we're meeting our requirements with our federal partners.
(22:48):
Same goes for the Tomas Basin Local Assessment District.
It's also fairly large.
We are approximately $3.5 million in collections, as we've previously identified.
This one goes a little bit longer.
It goes to 2053, but it is still large enough that it's, we were talking earlier in the
week, it's about the size of a mid-sized city in California by itself.
(23:11):
So that 37,000 parcels is a good, also nice source of revenue that is secure.
So we're going to go over that in just a little bit here.
So as you are aware, the CC82 was generated in 2016.
We went through our formation process, and we also sold bonds following that.
(23:32):
The annual assessments, like I said, are $32 million and change currently.
Those are escalated on an annual basis based on your board's approval, but it has a cap
of 1.5%, and it's based on a construction cost index through the engineering news record
collection of information.
So it's an average of 20 cities, blah, blah, blah.
(23:55):
So overall, the assessment district is growing, and with that, we are able to take advantage
a little bit of that growth.
But even still, the average single-family home, which is most of where the revenue is
coming from, is about $116 a year in assessment revenue.
So as we move forward and we take a look at what that mix looks like for these assessments,
(24:18):
you can see the residential component of all of this assessment revenue is the lion's share.
That's roughly 64% of the overall revenue stream.
So we want to make sure that we're keeping an eye on how those things work and what we
want to do to protect the community and each and every one of those benefit zones in CC82,
(24:39):
and we want to make sure that we can keep those projects moving.
When we talk about the Natomas Basin, again, 38,000 parcels roughly, a nice big round number,
but also we are in that very, very sensitive, wanting to make sure that we have the good
coverage, and we also have $59 on average is what folks are expected to pay on their
(25:03):
tax bill in the residential areas primarily.
So again, as we're seeing some growth in this assessment district, we are also wanting to
make sure that we are meeting our requirements for our projects, and both of these sources
are good credits in terms of what we've been talking about with our partners all week.
(25:24):
But again, both of these are very well situated to be able to be refunded for some savings
and then have some new money come in to help us pay for our projects.
So when we look at the land use components of where the revenue is coming from, again,
you can see well over 60% just in residential, whether it's a single family or multifamily.
(25:44):
So we want to make sure that we're recognizing that this is a diverse and solid income.
As we move forward, we also want to make sure that we have security in place.
It helps with the credit rating, it helps with our rates, and it helps with the revenue
that we're going to generate.
So bond security and the reserve fund, all of those things have been identified, and
(26:06):
we're making sure that we meet the policy reserves as well as we want to make sure that
we have an understanding of how we're going to be able to move forward should there be
any issues with collections.
So you can see we have a covenant to foreclose, all of those things that we see with the bond
issuance.
So those pieces are very well done, and we also very much appreciate the county's teeter
(26:29):
plan as well as the collection process is very smooth.
So that helps us with our partners as we go to market.
So we also need to make sure that we have the bond test that you're going to see in
just a second.
We are kind of bound to making sure that we have 110% of our coverage from non-government
(26:50):
entities.
So as we move forward here, you can see the CC82 preliminary bond numbers.
You can see over on the right, so this is a pro forma, it's an estimate at this point,
you can see when we look at our debt service coverage from the proposal here, you can see
that we have a good 125% non-governmental revenue coverage.
(27:15):
So as we move forward and we're looking at roughly $50 million in project funds with
adding about a $2 million debt service, that debt service is less than what the growth
has been since the assessment district was formed.
So this puts this in another context, so you can see how that coverage has worked.
(27:38):
If you look down under the debt service from actuals in 2020-21, you can see it's kind
of right after we got started also after we issued our 2020 debt service, our bonds, I'm
sorry.
So as you can see, we had good coverage then, it has improved over the years, and now the
pro forma is still showing that 125 with the non-governmental assessments.
(28:04):
So just want to keep that in mind as we move forward.
Similar things for NBLAD, we don't have an escalator on NBLAD, it's just the growth of
the assessment district, the number of parcels is making some changes, we're not necessarily
counting on that, but again, same concept.
We have, you know, the teeter plan, which is great.
(28:24):
We have the 110% coverage that we want to make sure we keep an eye on.
And so same situation, when we look at the revenue bonds, we are looking at $27 million
in gross, but the general idea is that we're going to keep those coverages square, we're
going to generate maybe a couple million dollars in additional revenue for our projects, and
(28:47):
then as you can see on the right, the non-government coverage is robust.
So when we're looking at 140 plus percent coverage, we should be in really good shape.
So this is similar to CCAD2, you can see over in the box in the green on the right, that
it's much better than it actually has been over the life of the assessment district.
(29:10):
So it's much more improved now than it was before, and that's just with the growth.
So our conclusion is, you know, we have a mission.
We definitely want to make sure that we continue that mission.
We have two very large assessment districts that are solid in their financials and can
generate some additional revenue for us to keep moving forward.
(29:34):
We think that it's a modest tax burden regarding those assessments that are being applied to
the property tax bills, but also we have, you know, some we've had some tremendous support
from the community to make sure that these projects get done, and we want to be able
to continue to do that.
So with that, we have, you know, a calendar here to get the process going or keep the
(29:57):
process going.
So we again, you know, today we're hoping that you can approve the four resolutions.
It's two bond purchase resolutions as well as the two preliminary official statements.
We want to we are anticipating that we will get our ratings in the first week of June,
(30:18):
and then beyond that we would like to be able to figure out when we're going to go to market
price bonds, and then ultimately our October close would be after CC82 bonds are the they
are not completely ready to go simply because they don't have a call date yet.
We want to be able to call those after the October timeline.
(30:39):
So once we're there, that will be we'll be hopefully reporting back that everything's
gone smoothly.
Director Cerna.
Mr. Chair, if there's no public speakers on this item, I'll move the resolutions.
I'm looking to council.
I assume we can move all four resolutions at once.
That's correct.
Yeah.
Okay.
(30:59):
Any questions?
Any public comment?
I've not received any.
Okay.
All those in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain?
Thank you.
The next item is public hearing resolution of necessity regarding portions of APN 226-0010-002.
(31:25):
Property is located at 5625 East Levee Road, and the property owners are Spiridon and Georgia
Avedis of the Avedis Family Trust.
Good afternoon, Directors, Matt DeGroote, Real Estate Program Manager.
So the property mentioned is located on 5625 East Levee Road on the land side of the Natomas
(31:51):
East Main Drainage Canal, West Levee, in the Natomas Basin area of Sacramento County.
Acquisition of the property is required for the Nemdek-West Levee REACH-G component of
Phase IV-B of the project.
Here we have Attachment A, which is a map of the project levee reaches, and we are down
in REACH-G for this action.
(32:15):
Hang on, Matt.
Go ahead.
I've got to recuse myself from this because just one of the family members represented
me at one point, so I should go away.
We're still good.
No, we won't have enough to proceed.
I made nine with him.
(32:36):
I've got eight now.
Is Pat still around?
No.
He's not in the building.
Is Desmond around?
(32:58):
No.
No.
Nor is there an alternate.
So let's just hang on.
What's the timeliness of that?
We can't proceed, but what's the impact of that?
That's correct.
We have, pursuant to the terms of the possession and use agreement, we have until June to get
(33:23):
June 30th to file.
And then do we need to continue it?
Yeah.
You need to vote to continue.
Yeah.
Okay.
Do we have a motion to continue?
So moved.
Yes, sir.
Not an amendment to the motion, but just the import of the next meeting of having that
quorum, maybe communicate and stress to board members the need to be here.
(33:52):
Thank you.
Is there a second?
Second.
All those in favor of continuing?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain.
Abstain.
Next item, is there a motion?
Motion to continue.
Second.
Any comments, questions?
All those in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain.
And we come to an unexpected and immediate closure of the meeting.
(34:26):
Well, our next meeting is May 21st.
As Director Cerna has said, please, we need presence.
We need your...
I'm sorry.
What did I say?
Oh, it says...
Sorry.
That's what it says.
I just do what I'm told.
So please make every effort you can to be here.
(34:48):
So we will see you on June 18th.
We're adjourned.
Good afternoon, welcome to the May 21st, 2026 meeting of the Sacramento Flood Control Agency
(00:12):
Board of Directors.
Would the clerk please call the roll?
Thank you, Director Desmond, Director Hulme, Chairman Kennedy, Director Hedges, Director
Cerna, Director Jennings, Director Kaplan, Director Pluckybaum, Director Megaviglio,
(00:38):
Director Kress, Director Abduz, Director Baines, and Director Stephens.
We have a nine-member quorum.
Thank you.
Will you please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
(01:21):
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
This meeting of SAFCA is being broadcast live and will be recorded and re-aired on Saturday,
May 23rd at 2 p.m., and will also be available on SAFCA's website within 48 hours after the
meeting.
Members of the audience who would like to address the board should fill out a speaker
(01:42):
form located here and bring it up to me.
When addressing the board, please identify yourself for the record and limit your comments
to three minutes.
Thank you.
At this time, is there anybody present who would like to address the board on an item
not on the agenda?
Hearing and seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you please call the items for closed session
(02:04):
into the record?
Thank you.
The first item is Sacramento County APN 226-001002, property located at 5625 East Levee Road.
Property owner, Nick S. Avedis, on behalf of the Avedis Family Trust.
The second item is regarding Sacramento County APN 226-0010-003, property located at 5311
(02:34):
East Levee Road.
Property owner, Nick S. Avedis.
And the third item is Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency v. Tasso Peter Canolis.
Case number 25CV008783.
Thank you.
And do we have any public comment on any items in closed session?
(02:55):
I have not received any.
Then we will recess to closed session.
Call this meeting of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Board of Directors back to
order.
Thank you.
(03:16):
Would the clerk please call the roll?
Thank you.
Director Desmond?
Director Hulme?
Here.
Chairman Kennedy?
Here.
Director Hedges?
Here.
Director Cerna?
Here.
Director Jennings?
Here.
Director Kaplan?
Here.
Director Maviglio?
Here.
Director Krush?
Here.
Director Avedis?
Here.
(03:37):
Director Baines?
Here.
Director Stevens?
Here.
We do have a 10-member quorum.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Nothing to report at this time.
Next item, please.
And our next item are consent matters, items 1 through 6.
Is there any member of the board that has any questions on an item on consent or like
to pull anything?
I need to recuse myself.
(03:59):
I'm a prior owner of Wood Rogers, who's item number 6.
So you're just recusing yourself from item number 6?
Yes.
So noted.
Let the record reflect that.
Any others?
Move consent.
Okay.
One second.
Director Krush, it's our practice to usually step out of the room on recusal.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Here, let me get that for you.
(04:35):
I have a motion from Director Huynh.
Is there a second?
There is.
Okay.
A motion and a second for the consent calendar.
All those in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain?
Thank you.
And our next item is the Executive Director's Report.
(05:10):
Chair Kennedy, members of the board, Jason Campbell, Executive Director.
Just a very quick ED report today.
The items you've seen many times, but just want to update a couple of different things.
Of course, we had a wonderful trip to D.C.
It was a multi-purpose trip.
But ultimately, we did meet with a number of members of Congress, as well as OMB, with
some good news.
(05:30):
We had talked about the $80 million that was allocated in the President's budget for the
Natomas Basin Project.
We did learn that that was actually $108 million.
So that's a good positive move forward.
In addition, we now recognize that the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee has also
(05:50):
gone through their first pass of budget, and it remains in the budget currently.
So as things work forward with Congress, we're hoping that that will stay in the mix, and
we can continue to move forward towards completion of the Natomas Basin Project.
Also, we had our Planning Director participate in the Cap2Cap, as well as the National Water
(06:11):
Waste Conference.
So lots of good information coming out.
Lots of changes still going on, as we've discussed in the past with the administration's guidance
and coming out of ASA's office, but we are moving forward quickly to make sure that we're
adapting and keeping the projects rolling.
We had additional meetings with ASA and Civil Works.
(06:31):
We met with Army Headquarters for USACE, as well as the Bureau of Reclamation to discuss
a number of things, particularly the Folsom Dam race.
This is just a little excerpt of what was put in the President's budget, and now we've
recognized that it is actually in the Appropriations Committee's book, as well.
(06:56):
As we go into the next couple of items after this report, just a quick reminder that, you
know, we have a cost share.
It's about 10.5% for our federal programs.
We're going to talk a lot about budget and funding today, so I just wanted to keep that
on everybody's mind a little bit.
And of course, love to show our wonderful stars.
Those stars are active construction all over the place in Natomas, in the pocket area on
(07:22):
the American River, and also at the Sweeney Creek Pump Station, which I will get to in
just a second.
But today we will discuss a number of things.
We've been talking about our five-year funding activity review for quite some time, but as
we've moved forward, we've identified our project cash flows, we've identified a number
of needs for our projects, and that's what's really bringing forward the budget as well
(07:43):
as the bond activities that we're looking for.
So we're still driving towards levy certification, and we are starting to consider our post-project
land management and other pieces as we start to see those develop a little bit more grandly.
So again, my favorite picture every month is the Sweeney Creek Pump Station's coming
(08:05):
to it.
We're getting good progress, and hopefully things will get operational in the next few
months.
Any questions on that part?
Questions?
Seeing none.
Nope.
Thank you.
That's your report?
Okay.
That's it.
Thank you.
Is there any member of the public that has a comment on the Executive Director's report?
(08:29):
Okay.
Seeing none.
Next item, please.
Item 9.
Are resolutions related to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Natomas Basin Local
Assessment District and the Consolidated Capital Assistance District.
Excuse me.
I'm ahead, too.
Item number 8 is presenting the fiscal year 26-27 proposed budget.
(08:57):
Thank you again, Jason Campbell, Executive Director.
That's not the presentation.
They have to do something.
Perfect.
So it's May, and what that means is typically, except for last year, we have brought forward
a recommended or proposed budget to your board to get a preview and to make sure that we're
on the right track before we come back in June with the actual budget recommendation
(09:20):
as well as hopefully the final budget being approved.
So we've met with the Finance Committee earlier in the month, and we've also published for
the public hearing that will occur in June.
So the burden today is just informational.
There's no action to be taken, but we would look forward to seeing any feedback if you
(09:42):
have any.
So as we produce our budget each year, we have some assumptions that we like to make,
and it's fairly simple, and we understand that some things do change, like project priorities
and other fund things, but these priorities have not changed or these assumptions have
not changed in several years, and we're keeping moving forward.
(10:03):
We have four basic funds that we operate with.
Of course, our 325A Operations Maintenance and Assessment District is our general fund,
and then we have a development impact fee, and then we have two assessment districts
that are very much the blood for us being able to pay for our project efforts.
So Natomas Basin Local Assessment District and CC882.
(10:27):
For this coming year, we're anticipating that our project's funding sources is about $92
million.
You can see the breakdown.
Obviously, we have a little bit of reserves that we're going to be collecting and keeping
over the course of the year, but our fund balance, about $6.3 million overall, is broken
down to those components, as you can see on the right.
(10:49):
The O&M Assessment District has about $2.6 million.
We have the development impact fee with a little bit of funding coming in that's net,
and then, of course, MBLAT and CC882.
Excuse me, Jason.
Yes.
Director Cerna.
Thank you, Chair.
Jason, can you remind me, all of us, actually, what, if any, reserve policy we have in terms
(11:11):
of a threshold number?
So our threshold number is, actually, we have a tremendous amount of unfunded reserves.
I'm sorry, unallocated reserves.
So in the O&M budget, we are carrying about $11 million in unallocated reserves.
That is quite a bit different than what a typical policy would be.
(11:35):
The typical policy would be a percentage of the overall general fund.
This is an assessment district, and we have a number of varying requirements that move
forward.
So we have been making sure that we...
So we always treat it as a dollar amount, never a percentage?
Never a percentage.
So right now, if it was a percentage, it would be well over 100% of the allocation of our
(11:59):
$6 million general fund.
All right, thank you.
So moving on, we do have our total revenues of about $80 million, and that is indicating
that there is state funds that come in that are revenues for reimbursements, as well as,
in some instances, contracts and agreements for grants.
(12:23):
We have our development impact fee revenues that generate about $3.2 million.
We have some interest income from funds that we have in reserve, as well as assessments
that are collected.
And then we do some transfers in between accounts, or in between funds, primarily for
labor that goes to projects that reimburses the general fund.
(12:46):
And then, of course, we have our bond refunding and any issuance, where we're anticipating
about $50 million overall.
So we want to make sure that that's recognized as we're moving forward.
Again, our proposed appropriations are primarily for projects.
So you can see that the $68 million for projects and acquisitions is the lion's share of all
(13:10):
of our efforts.
We do have provisions for reserves that will go forward to the different funds, but we
also do have, you know, our salaries and benefits, which are, you know, in the grant scheme,
not large.
It's a small crew.
But we also have services and supplies, about $14.5 million that's getting spread out over
(13:30):
all of the funds.
And then, of course, we build in contingencies within our operating budget, because we want
to make sure with meetings once a month and project activities, we want to make sure that
we don't have any surprises with some of our line items, depending on construction.
And then, of course, we do transfer those dollars related to the revenue that's coming
(13:51):
from the project funds back into the general fund for our labor.
So I will, again, this is just the chart of accounts that break that down with all
four funds summarized.
Again, $92.3 million on both ends, and the financing on the bottom.
You can see the number 98 there, issuance of bonds.
(14:11):
We're anticipating about $50 million net, depending on how things roll out.
So getting to the O&M fund specifically, you can see the line items, really it's salaries
and benefits, some services and supplies, which includes our liability insurance, our
lease for our office space, and a number of other things.
(14:32):
The inter-fund cost recovery there, you see, is that's that labor that's transferring from
projects back into the general fund.
And then we have our financing components, which is, you know, a little bit of fund balance
plus $6.4 million that's coming in from the assessments for the O&M.
As were required, we produced this chart to show the number of positions, the position
(14:54):
allocations, the descriptions, as well as the salaries, and any adds and deletes.
So you can see we've made some small changes.
Director of Planning, retired annuitant, was basically reduced this year, and then a Director
of Engineering, retired annuitant, was added back in.
(15:15):
We have two vacancies overall currently.
So this breaks down the project expenses.
So you can see that 80% of the work is made up of two primary projects, American River
Common Features 2016 and American River Common Features Natomas.
Other projects are receiving portions of the allocations for the project funding that you've
(15:41):
seen in the other slides, and we'll break that down by project in just a minute for
each fund.
But you can see $66 million of this is project related.
So the breakdown for the development impact fee line items, you can see each there.
Basically it's, you know, for infrastructure we've got about $10.3 million, so those are
(16:03):
project related.
Some of that is work that we're doing over in the Elkhorn Basin with our state partners
with reimbursements coming back to us.
We also have, you know, the number of, well, again, we have contingencies built in here
simply because it's construction related.
We want to make sure that we have those appropriations already in place.
(16:24):
And then we talk about reserve release, we're pulling some monies from reserves.
And then we do have state grants and the development impact fee itself.
So we're anticipating about $3.2 million in development impact fee collections.
The Tomas Basin Local Assessment District, pretty simple.
We'll get into the details of this in the next item, or in the next report.
(16:49):
So the idea here is that the NBLAD project is basically running debt service at this
point.
We do have some excess after the collections of the assessments, and we roll that in and
we use that for project expenses as well as paying RD1000 for portions of the O&M through
(17:10):
our agreements and other pieces.
And then we have CCAD2, which, again, lion's share of all the work, all of the costs are
associated in the entirety of the 160,000 parcels that are paying for CCAD2 assessments.
So again, public protection is the number one thing in that infrastructure.
(17:34):
So you can see the line items, the number of charges that are associated with the projects,
and then, of course, the infrastructure number is $47 million, pushing on $48, and that fluctuates
a bit depending on how fast our core partners and others are able to make things happen.
So they will request costs from us as the year goes by based on what their performance
(17:55):
looks like.
So financing overall, we have, again, some operating transfers in from other funds.
We do have $16.5 million anticipated as reimbursements coming from the state and others, and then
we do also anticipate those bond proceeds, assuming that everything works forward.
(18:18):
So this is the slide that does break the projects down, so you can see the line items for each
project by fund.
So again, we do have a little bit of work that we're continuing coming out of the O&M
fund, District 1.
So then we work down to the development impact fee.
You can see the lines of items there.
There's a number of, you know, different activities that are continuing, and some are at their
(18:39):
last steps here before we close those out.
And then as we move down to CCAD2, you can see, once again, those breakdowns by each
line.
So again, $16.4 million in fulsome is primarily associated currently with the hydraulic cylinder
replacement as well as security for the fulsome dam rise.
(19:03):
Again, no action today, but I'm absolutely open for comments.
And then a reminder that June 18th is our next board meeting, and we'll have a public
hearing for the budget.
Thank you.
Questions?
Okay, hearing none, is there any member of the public who would like to address the board
(19:25):
on the budget?
Hearing and seeing none, let me first say thank you to Director Kaplan for participating
in the budget subcommittee.
Appreciate your time.
Thank you.
Next item, please.
Item number nine is resolutions related to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Natomas
(19:46):
Basin Local Assessment District and the Consolidated Capital Assessment District, number two, financing.
(20:07):
Chair Kennedy, thank you.
Once again, Jason Campbell.
So we had an item came forward to your board a couple months ago in regards to getting
permission to move forward with these bond refundings and some potential additional funding
through the assessment districts.
So this action today is intended to move that bond financing forward for these two issuances,
(20:36):
refunding the CCAD 2016 and the NBLAD 2014 bonds.
So just to get started here, we have a very large team, as you can imagine.
This isn't everybody that's been participating and helping move these efforts forward.
So the preliminary official statements and the resolutions and all of the information
(20:57):
that you see today has been a good collaboration of our finance team, our staff, as well as
the consultants and advisors that we've had.
So this group, we very much appreciate everybody's continuous effort.
We ask them to expedite these things because we want to make sure that we're ready for
market when the time comes, when it is appropriate.
(21:20):
So just a quick thanks to everybody on this list, as well as all those out there that
have been working on this with us.
So again, our intent is to make sure that we have our flood protection program continuing
to move forward and to completion.
As you know, most of you should absolutely know that we are pushing as hard as we possibly
(21:43):
can to make sure these projects get done.
Essentially three of these major projects for our core partners are essentially complete,
but we still are working very hard.
And as the numbers in the previous presentation indicated, Common Features 2016 and the Tomas
Basin projects are very much active, and we're trying to advance those.
(22:05):
So as we just identified in the previous presentation, as well, is that we have four
funds, but the two that we're talking about today are very specific.
It's the Consolidated Capital Assessment District 2 and the Tomas Basin Assessment District.
So the CC82 generates about $32 million annually in assessments.
(22:26):
That will continue, hopefully, until fiscal year 2047.
And like I said before, it's over 168,000 parcels that are included in that.
That makes for a very good base and diversified revenue source that allows us to go ahead
and make sure that we're meeting our requirements with our federal partners.
(22:48):
Same goes for the Tomas Basin Local Assessment District.
It's also fairly large.
We are approximately $3.5 million in collections, as we've previously identified.
This one goes a little bit longer.
It goes to 2053, but it is still large enough that it's, we were talking earlier in the
week, it's about the size of a mid-sized city in California by itself.
(23:11):
So that 37,000 parcels is a good, also nice source of revenue that is secure.
So we're going to go over that in just a little bit here.
So as you are aware, the CC82 was generated in 2016.
We went through our formation process, and we also sold bonds following that.
(23:32):
The annual assessments, like I said, are $32 million and change currently.
Those are escalated on an annual basis based on your board's approval, but it has a cap
of 1.5%, and it's based on a construction cost index through the engineering news record
collection of information.
So it's an average of 20 cities, blah, blah, blah.
(23:55):
So overall, the assessment district is growing, and with that, we are able to take advantage
a little bit of that growth.
But even still, the average single-family home, which is most of where the revenue is
coming from, is about $116 a year in assessment revenue.
So as we move forward and we take a look at what that mix looks like for these assessments,
(24:18):
you can see the residential component of all of this assessment revenue is the lion's share.
That's roughly 64% of the overall revenue stream.
So we want to make sure that we're keeping an eye on how those things work and what we
want to do to protect the community and each and every one of those benefit zones in CC82,
(24:39):
and we want to make sure that we can keep those projects moving.
When we talk about the Natomas Basin, again, 38,000 parcels roughly, a nice big round number,
but also we are in that very, very sensitive, wanting to make sure that we have the good
coverage, and we also have $59 on average is what folks are expected to pay on their
(25:03):
tax bill in the residential areas primarily.
So again, as we're seeing some growth in this assessment district, we are also wanting to
make sure that we are meeting our requirements for our projects, and both of these sources
are good credits in terms of what we've been talking about with our partners all week.
(25:24):
But again, both of these are very well situated to be able to be refunded for some savings
and then have some new money come in to help us pay for our projects.
So when we look at the land use components of where the revenue is coming from, again,
you can see well over 60% just in residential, whether it's a single family or multifamily.
(25:44):
So we want to make sure that we're recognizing that this is a diverse and solid income.
As we move forward, we also want to make sure that we have security in place.
It helps with the credit rating, it helps with our rates, and it helps with the revenue
that we're going to generate.
So bond security and the reserve fund, all of those things have been identified, and
(26:06):
we're making sure that we meet the policy reserves as well as we want to make sure that
we have an understanding of how we're going to be able to move forward should there be
any issues with collections.
So you can see we have a covenant to foreclose, all of those things that we see with the bond
issuance.
So those pieces are very well done, and we also very much appreciate the county's teeter
(26:29):
plan as well as the collection process is very smooth.
So that helps us with our partners as we go to market.
So we also need to make sure that we have the bond test that you're going to see in
just a second.
We are kind of bound to making sure that we have 110% of our coverage from non-government
(26:50):
entities.
So as we move forward here, you can see the CC82 preliminary bond numbers.
You can see over on the right, so this is a pro forma, it's an estimate at this point,
you can see when we look at our debt service coverage from the proposal here, you can see
that we have a good 125% non-governmental revenue coverage.
(27:15):
So as we move forward and we're looking at roughly $50 million in project funds with
adding about a $2 million debt service, that debt service is less than what the growth
has been since the assessment district was formed.
So this puts this in another context, so you can see how that coverage has worked.
(27:38):
If you look down under the debt service from actuals in 2020-21, you can see it's kind
of right after we got started also after we issued our 2020 debt service, our bonds, I'm
sorry.
So as you can see, we had good coverage then, it has improved over the years, and now the
pro forma is still showing that 125 with the non-governmental assessments.
(28:04):
So just want to keep that in mind as we move forward.
Similar things for NBLAD, we don't have an escalator on NBLAD, it's just the growth of
the assessment district, the number of parcels is making some changes, we're not necessarily
counting on that, but again, same concept.
We have, you know, the teeter plan, which is great.
(28:24):
We have the 110% coverage that we want to make sure we keep an eye on.
And so same situation, when we look at the revenue bonds, we are looking at $27 million
in gross, but the general idea is that we're going to keep those coverages square, we're
going to generate maybe a couple million dollars in additional revenue for our projects, and
(28:47):
then as you can see on the right, the non-government coverage is robust.
So when we're looking at 140 plus percent coverage, we should be in really good shape.
So this is similar to CCAD2, you can see over in the box in the green on the right, that
it's much better than it actually has been over the life of the assessment district.
(29:10):
So it's much more improved now than it was before, and that's just with the growth.
So our conclusion is, you know, we have a mission.
We definitely want to make sure that we continue that mission.
We have two very large assessment districts that are solid in their financials and can
generate some additional revenue for us to keep moving forward.
(29:34):
We think that it's a modest tax burden regarding those assessments that are being applied to
the property tax bills, but also we have, you know, some we've had some tremendous support
from the community to make sure that these projects get done, and we want to be able
to continue to do that.
So with that, we have, you know, a calendar here to get the process going or keep the
(29:57):
process going.
So we again, you know, today we're hoping that you can approve the four resolutions.
It's two bond purchase resolutions as well as the two preliminary official statements.
We want to we are anticipating that we will get our ratings in the first week of June,
(30:18):
and then beyond that we would like to be able to figure out when we're going to go to market
price bonds, and then ultimately our October close would be after CC82 bonds are the they
are not completely ready to go simply because they don't have a call date yet.
We want to be able to call those after the October timeline.
(30:39):
So once we're there, that will be we'll be hopefully reporting back that everything's
gone smoothly.
Director Cerna.
Mr. Chair, if there's no public speakers on this item, I'll move the resolutions.
I'm looking to council.
I assume we can move all four resolutions at once.
That's correct.
Yeah.
Okay.
(30:59):
Any questions?
Any public comment?
I've not received any.
Okay.
All those in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain?
Thank you.
The next item is public hearing resolution of necessity regarding portions of APN 226-0010-002.
(31:25):
Property is located at 5625 East Levee Road, and the property owners are Spiridon and Georgia
Avedis of the Avedis Family Trust.
Good afternoon, Directors, Matt DeGroote, Real Estate Program Manager.
So the property mentioned is located on 5625 East Levee Road on the land side of the Natomas
(31:51):
East Main Drainage Canal, West Levee, in the Natomas Basin area of Sacramento County.
Acquisition of the property is required for the Nemdek-West Levee REACH-G component of
Phase IV-B of the project.
Here we have Attachment A, which is a map of the project levee reaches, and we are down
in REACH-G for this action.
(32:15):
Hang on, Matt.
Go ahead.
I've got to recuse myself from this because just one of the family members represented
me at one point, so I should go away.
We're still good.
No, we won't have enough to proceed.
I made nine with him.
(32:36):
I've got eight now.
Is Pat still around?
No.
He's not in the building.
Is Desmond around?
(32:58):
No.
No.
Nor is there an alternate.
So let's just hang on.
What's the timeliness of that?
We can't proceed, but what's the impact of that?
That's correct.
We have, pursuant to the terms of the possession and use agreement, we have until June to get
(33:23):
June 30th to file.
And then do we need to continue it?
Yeah.
You need to vote to continue.
Yeah.
Okay.
Do we have a motion to continue?
So moved.
Yes, sir.
Not an amendment to the motion, but just the import of the next meeting of having that
quorum, maybe communicate and stress to board members the need to be here.
(33:52):
Thank you.
Is there a second?
Second.
All those in favor of continuing?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain.
Abstain.
Next item, is there a motion?
Motion to continue.
Second.
Any comments, questions?
All those in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Abstain.
And we come to an unexpected and immediate closure of the meeting.
(34:26):
Well, our next meeting is May 21st.
As Director Cerna has said, please, we need presence.
We need your...
I'm sorry.
What did I say?
Oh, it says...
Sorry.
That's what it says.
I just do what I'm told.
So please make every effort you can to be here.
(34:48):
So we will see you on June 18th.
We're adjourned.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.