GSA Fee and Assessor’s Acreage Discrepancies

The Vina GSA received reports of incorrect fees on some tax bills. The GSA investigated and found that the discrepancies were caused by the consultant's reliance on GIS parcel data instead of the assessor's acreage.  The great news is that the majority of the fees were not affected by this data and remain correct, because the acreage was consistent or the slight differences in acreage had minimal effect on the fee charged. 

In cases where the parcel was overcharged by $5.00 or more, the Vina GSA submitted fee corrections to the Auditor’s office and updated tax bills were mailed to landowners prior to the December 10th tax payment deadline. If a landowner has already paid their tax bill, then appropriate adjustments will be reflected on your 2024/2025 tax bill. 

All fee descrepancies, including "refunds" for overcharges will be adjusted on your 2024/2025 tax bill. 

To avoid further confusion, future fee charges will be based on the assessed acreage indicated on the property tax bill. All tax bills will be corrected for the 2024/2025 tax roll.

We apologize for the confusion and any inconvenience.

Fee Report

The Fee Report describes the basis for the Vina GSA's proposed fee to each assessable parcel within the Vina GSA jurisdiction in order to provide groundwater management services in compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

Technical Memorandum

The Technical Memorandum (TM) summarizes the long-term funding needs and funding options considered to facilitate the approval of a long-term funding mechanism to support the GSA and GSP implementation and SGMA compliance activities. The funding options considered included: 1) uniform cost, resulting in a fee per acre, 2) irrigated/non-irrigated fee, and 3) land use hybrid options. The (TM) also discusses other options considered, but eliminated from further review.

Vina GSA Notice of Public Hearing to Adopt Proposed Fee

Click here for more information about the Public Hearing.

Vina GSA Long-term Funding

The California legislature passed the SGMA in 2014 and required the formation of Groundwater Sustainablity Agencies (GSAs) throughout California.  The Vina GSA was formed in 2019 and has served the landowers within the GSA service area by ensuring compliance with SGMA planning, monitoring, and reporting requirements. GSAs are required to manage groundwater at the local level through the development and implementation of a Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSP).

The Vina GSA, in collaboration with the Rock Creek Reclamation District GSA, prepared the Vina Subbasin GSP, which has been submitted to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) for review and approval. The Vina Subbasin GSP must ensure sustainable conditions by 2042 while avoiding six distinct undesirable results.

The decisions about sustainability will be made locally and includes public involvement. This is why the Vina GSA is proactively developing long-term water management solutions to prioritize local interests and keep expenses for landowners to a minimum so that groundwater can be locally managed and protected.

Compliance with SGMA is necesary to prevent state intervention and implementation of the GSP will ensure that the GSA reaches its goal for sustainable groundwater management by 2042 (as required by SGMA). Managing our groundwater resources through local agency collaboration, stakeholder input and public involvement creates the right water management solutions that benefit our region. The Vina GSA Board is dedicated to navigating SGMA together as a local community.

Funding from 2019 to 2022

Since 2019, the Vina GSA has been funded by $5,000 annual contributions from each of the member agencies (City of Chico, Butte County, Durham Water District) and significant in-kind staff support. Member agency contributions, along with grant funding acquired for development of the GSP has allowed the Vina GSA to achieve necessary SGMA compliance requirements to date (i.e., Annual Reports summarizing GSA/GSP implementation activities and groundwater monitoring results). Going forward, long-term reliable funding will be needed to support continued Vina GSA administration costs and ongoing GSP implementation and SGMA compliance actions. Combined, all of these activities are needed to maintain local management of the Vina Subbasin's groundwater resources.

Funding the Vina GSA is critical so that we can locally fund and manage our groundwater resources and work to implement key projects and management actions identified in the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) that will ensure adequate groundwater supplies for all users (domestic, agriculture, and environmental) in the future.

Public Outreach

The goal of the Vina GSA is to maintain open communication with community stakeholders throughout the process of identifying and implementing funding for the Vina GSA. Updates will be posted to this web page including a fact sheet(s) and frequently asked questions. In addition, updates will be distributed to our email list and meetings and workshops may be held.

Meetings and Workshops

The Vina GSA is hosting a series of meetings focusing on the potential funding mechanism for the Vina GSA. Vina GSA Board Meetings, Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SHAC) Meetings, and Workshops will address various components of developing the funding mechanism including additional grants, fees, and/or assessments. Please review the Board and SHAC calendar dates and agendas for funding discussions. The public is encouraged to attend these Board and SHAC meetings to learn more about local groundwater management efforts.

Past Workshops

GSA Fee Informational Workshop - June 14, 2023

The Vina GSA held a workshop to answer questions about funding the Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) and why sustainable groundwater management is important in the Vina Subbasin. 

• Workshop Flyer_06-14-23.pdf

Vina GSA Long-term Funding Workshop – March 28, 2023 

The Vina GSA held a public workshop to share long-term funding needs for GSP implementation and seek public input on funding options. For an overview of the information presented download the meeting presentation.

Vina GSA Funding Workshop – May 25, 2022

In May of 2022, the Vina GSA conducted a Funding Workshop to provide an overview of the funding process to the Board, SHAC, and public. To get an overview of the funding process, review the presentation slides and Workshop Video.