Elizabeth Larson – Record-Bee staff
SACRAMENTO ? If it becomes law, a new Assembly bill would financially help county residents who were put out of their homes and business owners who suffered losses due to this year”s New Year”s storms.
Assemblywoman Patty Berg (D-Eureka) wrote the bill, AB 1798, which addresses offering aid to residents in Lake, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma and Trinity counties, who were hardest hit by a series of storms between Dec. 17, 2005, and Jan. 3.
In separate declarations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George W. Bush declared those same counties disaster areas in the wake of the so-called New Year”s storms.
The storms” destructive winds and saturating rains were disastrous for many North Coast residents. Berg”s office reported that three people died in the storms. In addition, a half a million people were left out of power for days because of the storms; roads, bridges, schools and businesses were damaged; and hundreds of residents were forced from their homes.
In Upper Lake, downtown businesses were hit unexpectedly by flooding on Dec. 31 when Clover Creek overflowed its banks and went down the town”s Main Street. Several families in Upper Lake were forced to leave their homes as a result.
At the same time, several Lucerne residents found their homes flooded when Victoria Creek went over its banks, and rain coming off the steep hills behind Nice reportedly flooded some businesses there as well.
Specifically, AB 1798 would add the storms to a list of disasters that qualify for state aid. The bill, said Berg spokesman Will Shuck, ensures that residents can continue to receive residential tax credits even if they have to abandon their homes. It also requires the state to reimburse counties for lost revenue when property owners can no longer pay their tax bills, and gives tax flexibility to businesses damaged by the storms.
A May 10 memorandum from county Public Works Director Gerald Shaul to the Board of Supervisors reported that the county”s road system suffered “substantial damage” during the storms of Dec. 19, 2005, through Jan. 3, and March 29 through April 16. The total storm damage estimates were put at $11.8 million; however, no information was available at press time regarding the costs specific to the New Year”s storms.
The Assembly unanimously approved AB 1798, 80-0, on Tuesday. It next moves to the state Senate and, if passed there, to the governor”s desk.
Shuck said the bill, expected to be to the Senate by next week, will go through a variety of policy and fiscal committees before it will receive a floor vote. The time line on when the bill might get through the Senate isn”t clear, he said.
“It should move quickly,” Shuck said Wednesday. “There is no opposition to it. It has bipartisan support.”
Still, he added, AB 1798 “has to go through the process.”
Contact Elizabeth Larson at elarson@record-bee.com.
