State of CA
Board of Forestry proposed Fire Safe Regulations – As proposed will have a very negative effect on economic development in rural areas by adversely impacting a large percentage of land parcels in Tuolumne County and other rural areas.
Localized Water State of Emergency – Declared by Governor Newsom yesterday for the Russian River watershed in Sonoma and Mendocino counties where he says reservoirs are already at record lows. Tuolumne Utilities District water analysis shows we have adequate water in snow pack and our reservoirs for this season. It is always good to conserve however, we do not need the State to make a declaration for our area or our TUD Board to act on previous discussions noting a possible water moratorium for new hookups. This unneeded action would have a very adverse impact on our Covid recover at this time
Tuolumne County
Fire Parcel Tax – Collecting additional information related to how revenue for this tax will be allocated and utilized. Will it augment existing County General Funds now allocated for Fire facilities? Is the fee for undeveloped parcels ($75.00 per parcel) and developed parcels ($150.00 per parcel) a fair allocation? For example – Some Ag users that have multiple undeveloped acres for grazing are wondering how their allocation stacks up with an apartment parcel that gets allocated one fee.
County Business Tax – It has been noted that this fee would start out low (approximately $35.000 per year) to cover costs of administering the program. County has not provided much detail on why the need for this additional tax and what fee increases are anticipated in the future. Is this just another way to increase revenues?
Water Moratorium – See above
City of Sonora
Short Term Rental Moratorium – The Sonora City Council has imposed a moratorium on short term rentals, while they take an undetermined amount of time to “study” the lack of available housing and rentals in the City. As with our homeless issues, solutions are not simple. Imposing a moratorium on short term rentals in the City, retroactively applied with little notice, appears to be a impulsive reaction to a much bigger problem that cannot be solved with a one size fits all solution. This should be removed and more comprehensive solutions developed to increase our City and County supply of for sale
and rental housing.