Napa County supervisors have signed off on wiping out $5 million in outstanding loans to the Napa Berryessa Resort Improvement District, a move county staff say is meant to clear the logjam blocking state and federal grant money for badly needed water and sewer fixes in the Berryessa Highlands. By scrubbing the county debt, officials say they are easing strict budget and debt rules that often shut distressed districts out of grant programs. District leaders and supervisors cast the decision as the realistic alternative to slamming a small, already stretched community with steep rate hikes. The vote follows a local special tax measure that residents approved earlier this year to stabilize day-to-day operations.
The waiver appeared on the Board of Supervisors’ June 2 agenda as an item authorizing the chair to request repayment relief and consider a resolution waiving the loans under state law. County staff told the board that making the district repay the loans would create an economic hardship for district property owners, and that forgiving the debt is a discretionary choice that carries a $5 million fiscal hit to county funds. The agenda and meeting recap show staff presented the loan-waiver request on behalf of the Napa Berryessa Resort Improvement District and recommended approval as a way to help the district compete for outside funding, per Napa County.
District and county officials have repeatedly stressed that the point of forgiveness is to clear a key barrier to grant eligibility. “They, to my knowledge, cannot receive grants while they have debt,” Napa Berryessa board chair Amber Manfree told reporters in recent coverage of the request. That reporting also notes the district serves roughly 250 households and that earlier this year residents backed a parcel tax meant to balance the books while staff chase capital funding, rather than leaving the community to fend for itself with big rate spikes, as reported by The Press Democrat…