To: Board of Directors
From: Wendt Ranch Geological Hazard Abatement District
Report Title: Wendt Ranch GHAD Resolution No. 2025/01
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ADOPT Wendt Ranch GHAD (“GHAD”) Resolution No. 2025/01 adopting the GHAD budget for Fiscal Year 2025/2026, updating the GHAD Manager payment limit pursuant to the Consulting Services Agreement, and updating the annual Consumer Price Index reference month to December for all assessed properties in the GHAD.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The GHAD is funded 100% through real property assessments levied on properties within the GHAD.
BACKGROUND:
On February 12, 2002, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution 2002/59 approving the formation of the Wendt Ranch Geologic Hazard Abatement District (“GHAD”) and appointed itself to serve as the GHAD Board of Directors. On July 15, 2005, the GHAD Board of Directors (“Board”) adopted Resolution 2005/437 approving the annexation of the Alamo Creek and Monterosso developments into the GHAD. The most recent annexation occurred on August 3, 2021, with the Board’s adoption of Resolution 2021/03, which approved the annexation of the Somerset development into the GHAD.
As part of the preparation for the GHAD’s FY 2025/26 budget, the GHAD Manager reviewed the current GHAD reserves. The GHAD is ahead of its target rate of reserve accumulation forecast estimate in the approved 2002 and 2005 Engineer’s Reports and 2008 Reserve Study for the Wendt Ranch, Alamo Creek, and Monterosso developments within the GHAD, therefore GHAD Staff is recommending an assessment levy less than the assessment limit for the Wendt Ranch, Alamo Creek, and Monterosso developments only for FY 2025/26, and prepared a budget that reflects a lower assessment levy for FY 2025/26.
Staff is providing this recommendation based on the following conditions.
• Unencumbered reserve funds collected from within the GHAD exceed the rate of target reserve accumulation estimated in the approved 2002 and 2005 Engineer’s Report and 2008 Reserve Study
• Reserve funds collected from within GHAD exceed the dollar amount estimated for a large-scale repair
As provided in the approved Engineers’ Reports, the assessment limits in each of the three developments (Alamo Creek, Monterosso, and Wendt Ranch) will continue to be adjusted for inflation annually. The proposed assessment levy is $452.31 per single-family residence for FY 2025/26 for the Wendt Ranch, Alamo Creek, and Monterosso developments. This action would not preclude the GHAD Board from increasing or decreasing the levy of the assessment up to the inflation-adjusted assessment limit in the future.
The Somerset development has not yet met the above conditions relating to the reserve, therefore the residential parcels within the Somerset development will be assessed at the inflation-adjusted assessment limit of $653.35 per single-family residence for FY 2025/26.
The assessment levy determination is made by the GHAD Board each year in approving the annual budget for the GHAD. If the GHAD Board levies future assessments in accordance with the Engineer's Report, a vote of property owners is not required; a vote is only required if the assessment limit is increased beyond that provided in the Engineer's Report.
The GHAD Board adopts a budget for the GHAD operations each fiscal year. The GHAD Board is requested to adopt the Fiscal Year 2025/2026 budget of $575,763 as prepared by the GHAD Manager, which is attached to Resolution No. 2025/01, and to approve an assessment levy less than the assessment limit. In addition, the GHAD Board is requested to update the GHAD Manager payment limits under the Consulting Services Agreement as required by that Agreement to $180,321 as referenced in the attached Resolution No. 2025/01.
In addition, the GHAD Board is being requested to change the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reference month in each of the Engineer’s Reports for the development projects included in the GHAD to December. This will allow the annual assessment for all properties in the GHAD to be increased per the CPI on the same month each year and allow an exact assessment amount to be determined for each property during the budget preparation instead of waiting for the CPI to be published mid-year.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The GHAD will not be able to continue to operate starting July 1, 2025, if the budget is not approved.