Assembly Bill 10 has passed out of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee.
Anjali Patel breaks down some of the details of AB 10 and its potential impact on valley residents.
AB10 would give local governments a pathway to intervene when water or sewer problems arise in common-interest communities, and the HOA cannot — or is not — taking care of it.
Somerset Park was a catalyst for AB10, which was filed on behalf of the City of Henderson. The neighborhood, as we've reported, had a failing water distribution system.
Ryan Ketcham followed the issues in Somerset Park closely, breaking down the timeline for repairs and how residents were affected.
David Cherry, the City of Henderson's Government Affairs Manager, tells Channel 13 that city officials last year noticed the water usage at Somerset going way up. At its peak, he said, a million gallons of water a month were leaking underneath that community. It even caused a sinkhole to open up, and threatened to displace residents from their homes.
We went to one of the community meetings where residents expressed their fears of being kicked out of their homes.
At the time, local and state leaders told Channel 13 the issue was negligence and mismanagement of funds by the former HOA management company at Somerset Park. They said there was little to no leftover money for the HOA to overhaul the complex's water system.
So, the city decided to step in and front the cost of replacing the water system. Now, homeowners are tasked with paying the city back through a special assessment.
Ryan Ketcham went back to Somerset Park to look at the numbers and break down what residents have to pay after the repairs were completed.
Cherry said AB10 would give municipalities the ability to repair or replace a water or sewer system owned by a common-interest community — before the situation becomes a crisis, like what we saw in Somerset Park. Then, the city would be reimbursed through assessments on property owners there. It would function similarly to a "neighborhood improvement project."
Cherry said, while Somerset Park was a catalyst for this legislation, it's not the only reason. He said there are many aging private communities around the valley with old infrastructure that may not be getting the attention they need.
"It says, in instances where we think there's an opportunity here to use these taxpayer resources to do something that's important for the community, they can step in and do it. However, at the same time, we don't want to have an HOA say, 'Well, we're just going to sit by and let it become a crisis and then we know the local governing body will step in and not only pay for it, but do the hard work of making the decision for us,'" Cherry said.
Critics of AB10 worry this bill could incentivize HOAs to ignore problems in their community. But city officials emphasize, the responsibility is still on the HOA. They add, this bill would not require local jurisdictions to intervene; it would just give them the option to, to protect communities and precious resources like water, if the HOA isn't doing its job.
"The goal here is to send a message in part to the communities to say, if you're in a situation where you know that you have a water or sewer system that's privately owned by the HOA, you need to take a hard look and say, 'Are we making the repairs needed on a regular basis, doing the maintenance, ensuring everything we can is done so we can avoid a situation where there's going to be a need for that system to be replaced, especially when it becomes a crisis point?" Cherry said.
Cherry said he urges residents to hold their HOA boards accountable; ask them if they're doing the regular upkeep on your community's water and sewer systems, and if they have enough money in their reserves to cover potential repairs, should a problem arise.
