Bell Ranch trustee sues Tehama County Flood Control over water fee
The Tehama County Flood Control and Water Conservation District has been sued along with its board of directors by a trustee of Bell Ranch. David Garst filed suit on April 3, alleging the district violated Propositions 13, 218, and 26, Government Code section 54999.7, along with common law of utility rulemaking, when the TCFC passed a $0.29 per acre registration fee on June 20, 2022. The lawsuit was the subject of a special meeting that was a joint closed session with the County Board of Supervisors and the TCFC on April 18. That meeting was held one day after the regular April 17 meeting was canceled. In the 15-page filing, He’s asking that the court vacate and rescind the fee and refund him any payment of the fee, to stop charging him based simply on the amount of acreage he owns, absent any evidence in the rate-making record that demonstrates the basis to impose the charge and “Commission a cost of service analysis to establish a sufficient basis for charges.”