Local government: assessments, fees, and charges: water: hydrants.

The California Constitution specifies various requirements with respect to the levying of assessments and property-related fees and charges by a local agency, including requiring that the local agency provide public notice and a majority protest procedure in the case of assessments and submit property-related fees and charges for approval by property owners subject to the fee or charge or the electorate residing in the affected area following a public hearing. Existing law, known as the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with these requirements and, among other things, authorizes an agency providing water, wastewater, sewer, or refuse collection services to adopt a schedule of fees or charges authorizing automatic adjustments that pass through increases in wholesale charges for water, sewage treatment, or wastewater treatment or adjustments for inflation under certain circumstances. Existing law defines, among other terms, the term "water" for these purposes to mean any system of public improvements intended to provide for the production, storage, supply, treatment, or distribution of water from any source. This bill would specify that hydrants, as defined, are part of the system of public improvements included in the definition of "water" for purposes of the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act. The bill would specify that the fees or charges for property-related water service imposed or increased, as specified, may include the costs to construct, maintain, repair, or replace hydrants as needed or consistent with fire codes and industry standards, and may include the cost of water distributed through hydrants. The bill would also authorize the fees or charges for the aspects of water service related to hydrants and the water distributed through them to be fixed and collected as a separate fee or charge, or included in the other water rates and charges fixed and collected by a public agency, as specified.