Santa Barbara County

Special Districts Association Minutes April 27, 2009

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

SPECIAL DISTRICTS ASSOCIATION

MINUTES

April 27, 2009 at A J Spurs, Solvang

Attendees:

Name / Position / Representing
Azoury, Kamil & guest / General Manager / Goleta Sanitary District.
Barget, Joe / General Manager / Vandenberg Village CSD
Barnard, Kevin & guest / Manager / Los Alamos CSD
Blair, Charles / Trustee / Mosquito & Vector Mgmt District S B Co
Clark, Candyce & guest / Secretary / Los Alamos CSD
Conn, Diane / Director / Isla Vista Recreation & Park District
Cunningham, Jack & guest / Director / Goleta Water District
Fox, John / Director / Goleta Sanitary District
Fox, Tony & guest / Director / Vandenberg Village CSD
Geyer, Craig & guest / Trustee / Goleta Cemetery District
Gibbons, Tom / Director / Santa Maria Valley Water Conser. Dist.
Griesemer, Christy / Secretary / Santa Maria Water Conservation District
Maler, Carl / Director / Santa Ynez CSD
Meyer, Larry / Director / Goleta West Sanitary District
Moorhouse, Jeff / Director / Carpinteria Sanitary District
Schlottmann, Cathy / Director / Mission Hills CSD
Souza, Daryl / Director / Santa Maria Valley Water Conserv. District
Stava, Jeffrey / Guest Speaker / Nossaman LLP
Stone, Thomas / Attorney / Associate
Ventura, Lou / Director / Embarcadero Muni. Improvement District
Warfield, Ken / Director / Isla Vista Recreation & Park District
Wyckoff, Robert, & guest / Director / Vandenberg Village CSD

President Larry Meyer called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. Attendees were introduced.

Approval of Minutes: Motion, second, to approve the Minutes of March 23, 2009. The motion passed with President Meyer abstaining.

Treasurer’s Report: Tom Gibbons reported the checking account has $1,269.58 and the savings account has $2,923.30. Motion, second, unanimous, to accept the Treasurer’s report.

LAFCO Report: John Fox said there will not be a May LAFCO meeting.

CSDA Report: President Meyer reported there was a change to their flight and thus he and John Fox were two hours late arriving at the Chapter Presidents Roundtable. Nine Chapter Presidents attended.

Our Next Meeting Location: Charlie Blair noted the recently renovated Corque Restaurant (formerly Meadows Restaurant) is raising their prices, and an example is their charge of $3.00 per person for coffee. After discussion, the location of our May meeting will be determined by the Executive Board.

Guest Speaker: Jeffrey Stava, Attorney with Nossaman LLP, Bond Counsel for CSDA Finance Corp: Mr. Stava noted that both the economy and finance is upside down right now. A district seeking financing has three questions to answer: identify the needs, determine how much they can afford, and calculate the period of time for the project’s financing. The cheapest method is “pay as you go” but it is not always feasible. The choice after that is tax exempt financing. Mr. Stava noted a district can do tax exempt financing even if they have reserves. One requirement for tax exempt financing is that the funds be expended within three years. He cautioned to have the preliminary design and the CEQA process completed prior to starting the funding process. The term for the financing can not exceed 120% of the useful life of what is being financed.

There are many issues decided along the way to financing. The process is different for an enterprise vs. non-enterprise district. An enterprise district is in a stronger position because they can raise their rates for the financing. In today’s market credit quality is very important. Today no bond insurance companies have a Triple A rating. For A+ or better, the rates are currently in the mid-5% range. For a lower rating, the interest rates range from 6.5% to 8.5%.

Mr. Stava noted with the new federal “Build America” program, for the next two years public agencies can sell taxable bonds and the federal government will reimburse up to 35% of the interest. However, there are big differences between taxable and non-taxable bond markets. The CSDA Finance Corp. also has lease programs.

New Business: None.

Old Business: None.

May Meeting Date: Our next meeting date will be May 18th due to Memorial Day. The speaker will be Tom Vu of CSDA. The meeting location will be determined.

Adjournment: President Meyer adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m. The next monthly Chapter meeting will be held Monday, May 18, 2009.

s/ Ca thy Sch lottmann

Cathy Schlottmann

Secretary, SBCSDA

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