San Benito County Grand Jury
• 2024-2025
• Agency Response
County of San Benito Board of Supervisors*
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1
– The Corrections Division is understaffed, and its reliance on overtime is not sustainable. In its current unused state, the Curtis J. Hill Rehabilitation Center's continued closure is a depreciating asset unable to serve inmates and the broader community. Response to Finding – 1 (FI): The County Board of Supervisors partially agrees; the jail is understaffed and uses overtime to cover shifts; the rehabilitation is not used to its full capacity due to staffing constraints
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
– The SBCWD should cease any further collection of tax revenue based on the 1977 Measure for the loan repayment. A new measure should be written and submitted to the county residents for a vote at the next upcoming election (June 2026).
F2
– Stating "40-year repayment period" implies a sunset of part of the tax. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RESPONSE TO THE 2024-25 SAN BENITO COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT Docusign Envelope ID: B6521233-EEC9-4A8F-968E-7C9C62283976 Table of Contents Response to Finding – 2 (F2): The County Board of Supervisors neither agrees nor disagrees. The County Board of Supervisors does not have governing authority over the San Benito County Water District.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
– Beginning with the 2025-2026 tax year, cancel the tax on the loan repayment. The repayment period of 40 years is over, and the loan has been paid off. According to the County Counsel, the only way to remove the tax collection is to take legal action to have it removed. If a person(s) or group would like to spend the time and funds in doing so, then they may be successful, but there is no guarantee of removal.
F3
– Attorneys hired by SBCWD interpreted the language on the 1977 ballot as having no end date. Response to Finding – 3 (F3): The County Board of Supervisors neither agrees nor disagrees with the SBCWD determination. The County Board of Supervisors does not have governing authority over the San Benito County Water District.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
– The SBCWD and the County should jointly hire an independent law firm for an unbiased interpretation of the 1977 ballot measure within the next six months.
F4
– SBCWD claims tax revenue currently provides for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) costs. Response to Finding – 4 (F4): The County Board of Supervisors neither agrees nor disagrees. The County Board of Supervisors does not have governing authority over the San Benito County Water District. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RESPONSE TO THE 2024-25 SAN BENITO COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT Docusign Envelope ID: B6521233-EEC9-4A8F-968E-7C9C62283976 Table of Contents
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
– An audit of the budgets from SBCWD should be completed to review the average cost for O&M within the next 90 days.
F5
– SBCWD accounting methods do not capture and bill the customers for O&M expenses. Response to Finding – 5 (F5): The County Board of Supervisors neither agrees nor disagrees. The county does not oversee or govern SBCWD operations.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
– In the next 30-45 days, SBCWD should change its accounting methods to specifically identify loan repayment versus O&M charges.
F6
– The original $19,900,000 was paid off in 1995. The USBR said that if the loan was paid off early, there would be a discount down to $19,200,000. The funds to pay off the loan were borrowed through the district with approval from the SBCWD Board of Directors, and the secondary loan was paid off around 2006-2007. Although enough money is collected each tax year to pay off these loans, SBCWD continues to make payments that are due to increase in 2026. The bond measure on the 1977 ballot did not authorize additional loans. Response to Finding – 6 (F6): The County Board of Supervisors neither agrees nor disagrees. The County Board of Supervisors does not have governing authority over the San Benito County Water District.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
– The SBCWD should seek voter approval for additional loan encumbrances in the next election cycle of June 2026.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.