There is no net fiscal impact to the County. The funds being transferred to the Port were reimbursed to the Contra Costa County Water Agency by the U.S. Corps of Engineers as part of the local share of the San Francisco-Stockton Ship Channel Deepening Project in prior years, and cannot be used for any other purpose. The Water Agency is transferring these funds to the Port because the Port is the current non-Federal sponsor for this project.
The Contra Costa County Water Agency was the local sponsor for portions of the San Francisco-Stockton Ship Channel Deepening Project (Project) from the late 1980’s through the 1990’s. In 1999, the Phase 3 project was put on hold until additional computer models could be developed to better determine and understand the effects of salinity intrusion into the Delta with deepening. The project was restarted in the mid 2000s with the Port of Stockton (Port) as local sponsor for the project, with assistance from the Water Agency. The Water Agency and the Port have a long history of working together on various phases of this project, and have a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) for operations and maintenance of the Suisun Bay Channel section, and the Port provides assistance on funding advocacy for the Pinole Shoal Channel section of the project.
In August 2009, the Corps of Engineers, in closing out the books on the early phase of the Project, refunded to Contra Costa County $84,379.41 in unused funds which had been contributed in prior years for the non-federal share of the Project. Although the Port of Stockton is the current local sponsor for the project, the County was obligated to receive the reimbursement from the Corps of Engineers because it was the local sponsor in prior years when these funds were dedicated for the project. Industry beneficiaries and the Port had provided this initial funding.
After the County has transferred the reimbursed local funds to the Port of Stockton (pursuant to the proposed Board order), the Port is expected to use the funds to provide the local share necessary to meet Project needs today. The Port had requested that the County hold the funds until they were needed to meet the current local share of the Project, and has recently requested these funds for that purpose.
The Board’s authorization will allow the Auditor’s office to provide $84,379.41 of reimbursed local share of funds, currently held in the Water Agency account, to the Port as the current local sponsor.
The Port of Stockton, as the current non-federal sponsor, would not receive certain funds which were reimbursed to Contra Costa County Water Agency by the U.S. Corps of Engineers for the local cost-share of the San Francisco-Stockton Ship Channel Deepening Project; the Project will be delayed without these funds.