Who We Are
Financial Overview
Financial Overview
Each year, the District undertakes large and small projects to reduce the potential for local flooding, maintain our flood control infrastructure, preserve the environment, and prepare for communities’ future needs.
We receive revenue from a variety of sources and use these funds for various flood control purposes. Any remaining funds are reserved for future projects. When the District was first formed, we sold bonds to pay for projects and retired those bonds with property tax revenue. Since then, we’ve funded projects on a pay-as-you-go basis.
For the most part, revenue generated within a flood control zone, including tax and benefit assessment monies received from properties within each zone, can only be spent within that zone. For details on the monies collected and spent, please see the District’s annual reports.
Revenue Sources
Taxes and Assessments: The District receives a very small portion of the countywide one-percent property tax. However, a large portion (nearly 40 percent) of these funds are reallocated by law to California’s Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) – not to flood control projects.
Benefit Assessment Revenue: In 1979, the District adopted a benefit assessment program. Benefit assessments are based on predictions of the quantity of stormwater and runoff from each parcel of property. To make these estimates, properties are grouped by land use into five categories: commercial and industrial; institutions and apartments; single family and small multiple residential; vacant land used for farming and parks; and vacant land that is undisturbed or that is used for grazing. The assessment rate-per-acre depends on the land use and the land zone. Assessments have not increased since the early 1990s.
Aid from Governmental Agencies: The District receives several Federal and State grants.
Use of Money and Property: The District earns income from interest on cash reserves, rental revenue from District-owned property, and from other reserves.
Other Revenue: The District earns revenue from permitting fees paid by developers and builders, among other small sources of revenue.
Clean Water Program: The District receives a small amount of revenue from assessments on property within unincorporated Alameda County to cover the costs of the Clean Water Program.
Key District Expenditures
Below is a list of some of the District’s key operating expenses.
Information Technology Improvements: Hardware and software purchases for District operations.
Administration: Human resources, accounting, and other office services.
Construction and Development: Permitting, technical assistance, and construction for new developments in unincorporated areas, as well as construction inspection, laboratory testing, and contract administration.
Engineering: Designs for new flood control structures; securing clearance permits for new or existing facility upgrades.
Maintenance and Operations: Maintaining the District’s infrastructure inventory and overseeing the District’s pump stations and other flood control systems.
Clean Water Program: Any activities associated with the District’s responsibility as a co-permittee of the regional NPDES permit for the Clean Water Program.
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