Feather River West Levy Financing Authority advances 2.18% assessment levy for fiscal year 2627 after board debate

Seth, a staff presenter, outlined a proposed resolution to adopt the Feather River West Levy Financing Authority’s fiscal year 2627 budget and associated assessment levy, saying the levy calculation is tied to the annual change in the Consumer Price Index and is capped at 4%.

“The assessment has an authorized escalation based on the annual change in CPI capped at 4%,” Seth said, and staff recommended applying the most recent annual CPI change — 2.18% — to set the levy at $2,281,628, which translates to an estimated 2627 budget of about $2,381,608. Seth said the staff report includes a table showing how the assessment would be apportioned between LD1 and LD9 and noted an estimated $99,980 in Prop 13 passthrough that factors into LD9’s net levy.

Board members pressed staff for clarification about the cap and the board’s discretion. “We can’t go over the 4%,” a staff speaker confirmed in explaining the cap; the board can, however, levy less than the maximum in any given year.

Board member Michael urged support for the staff recommendation. “I wouldn’t recommend that this board approve less than the 2.1% that is, you know, being recommended by the staff,” he said, citing current inflation conditions.

Other members urged caution about routinely taking the full allowed escalation and asked for more stakeholder engagement. Charlie said he supported adopting the item as presented but asked for a more deliberate process in future years: “I’d like to have a bit more of a discussion about it, you know, is to see if we really need it or not,” he said, and suggested soliciting input from the LD1 and LD9 boards and possibly holding a workshop as staff prepare next year’s budget.

After discussion, a board member moved to adopt the resolution and another board member seconded. The chair asked, “All in favor?”; the transcript records affirmative responses and the meeting proceeded to subsequent items, but it does not show a roll-call or a numerical vote tally.

Later in the meeting staff reported that the draft 2024–25 audit had arrived but was not yet final; the board agreed to return the audit for consideration at a later meeting in August. The meeting closed with no executive director reports.

The authority’s next procedural step is to post or file the adopted resolution and any accompanying budget documents; staff indicated they will follow up with LD1 and LD9 regarding input for future budget planning.