Mutual water companies: assessments and water charges: notice.

Notices of water charges may now be sent by electronic mail if the shareholder or tenant has provided and verified an email address to the company within the last year.

If a facility that can accommodate at least 100 participants is not available, the mutual water company may convene the public meeting in the largest publicly accessible facility available, rather than being strictly limited to 100-person capacity venues.

The media notice requirement was reduced from sending copies to ALL general circulation newspapers and radio stations serving the county to providing a copy to just ONE general circulation newspaper, radio station, or county-maintained public notice portal or digital bulletin board serving the county.

The company must now post a copy of the written proposal and notice of the public meeting on all of its internet websites or social media platforms, as applicable.

The notice language sent to shareholders was expanded to include their right to inspect the company's books and records pursuant to Section 1601 of the Corporations Code, in addition to the existing language about voting rights and participation in board meetings.

Individual votes of board members on an assessment or water charge increase must be recorded in the minutes of the board meeting at which the vote takes place.

Language throughout was changed from 'send' to 'provide or send' for distribution of proposals and notices, and 'by physical or electronic mail' was added as an acceptable delivery method for the 45-day advance notice requirement.

The written proposal to collect an assessment or increase a water charge must now be prepared at least 45 days before the public meeting (previously the 30-day clock ran from when the company sought to collect). Notices and website postings of the proposal and meeting notice must also occur at least 45 days before the public meeting.

A new provision prohibits a mutual water company from beginning to collect an assessment or increase a water charge earlier than 30 days after the date of the public meeting in which the proposed assessment is adopted. This creates a mandatory cooling-off period between adoption and collection.

The written proposal no longer needs to 'identify the board members that voted for the proposal.' The requirement to record individual board votes in meeting minutes remains unchanged.

The requirement that mutual water companies make available 'a copy of the current list of shareholders, including all contact information' to eligible persons upon request was removed from both Section 14307 (records access) and the notice language provided to non-shareholder eligible persons.

The notice sent to shareholder-eligible persons was changed from stating they have rights to 'receive all information regarding the operation of the company and its water system' to stating they have rights 'to inspect the company's books and records pursuant to Section 1601 of the Corporations Code,' which is a narrower, more specific statutory right.

Senator Gonzalez was added as principal coauthor, and Assembly Member Bennett was added as a coauthor alongside Assembly Member Harabedian, indicating broader legislative sponsorship.

The bill text was reformatted from an official enrolled document layout (with page numbers, chapter heading, and Governor signature block) into a web page display format with navigation menus, version history, and status information. No legal language was added, removed, or altered.

The bill now amends Sections 14300, 14303, and 14307 of the Corporations Code and adds Section 14303.5, expanding its scope from disaster preparedness to also cover mutual water company governance, assessments, and transparency.

New Section 14300(b) prohibits mutual water companies from charging, billing, or otherwise seeking to hold tenants of shareholders responsible for water costs. All notices of charges must be sent to shareholders at their last known address.

New Section 14303.5 requires a mutual water company operating a public water system to prepare a written proposal and convene a public meeting (in a facility accommodating at least 100 participants, located in or within 5 miles of the service area) before levying an assessment or increasing water charges by more than 20 percent.

Section 14307 now requires mutual water companies to make available additional records including water quality test results, annual reports distributed to shareholders, the current list of shareholders with all contact information, and written proposals for assessments or charge increases.

Section 14307 now prohibits mutual water companies from charging duplication costs when requested records are provided in digital form, and limits record requests to the three calendar years preceding the written request.

The written proposal and notice of the public meeting must be sent to eligible persons and local newspapers/radio stations at least 45 days before the public meeting, and the company must comply with these requirements at least 30 days before collecting the assessment or increased charge.

The definition of 'eligible person' in Section 14307 is expanded to include the chief administrative officer of each city, county, and government water agency whose boundaries fall within 5 miles of the mutual water company's service area.

The fiscal note was changed from 'Fiscal committee: yes' to 'Fiscal committee: no' and 'State-mandated local program: yes' to 'State-mandated local program: no,' indicating the Senate determined the bill does not trigger a state-mandated local program or require fiscal committee review.

Entire Section 8607.5 of the Government Code is deleted. This section would have required disaster-impacted public water systems to conduct a disaster impact assessment within six months of a disaster before receiving state funding, including evaluating whether affected residences should become part of a consolidated water system, and imposing public records act compliance, public comment, and live translation requirements on the coordinating bodies.

Senator Hurtado is added as a coauthor alongside Senator Perez and Assembly Member Harabedian.

A new exception is added to the prohibition on charging tenants for water. Under the new paragraph (2), mutual water companies may charge tenants who are lessees of the corporation's shares or stock, or lessees of a shareholder's land, provided the corporation has approved the lease, as provided in Section 2705 of the Public Utilities Code.

The notice requirement for water charges is expanded: notices must now be sent to the shareholder at their last known address, or to the last known address of the tenant if the tenant exception applies. Previously notices were required only to shareholders.

Fiscal committee review changes from yes to no, and state-mandated local program changes from yes to no, reflecting the removal of the disaster preparedness provisions that would have imposed new obligations on local agencies.