1. Call to Order of the Meeting of the Finance Committee

The Committee Chair will call the meeting to order if a quorum is present. Announcements may be made at this time.

2. Public Comments

Opportunity for members of the public to address the committee.

3. Approval of the minutes

The Committee Chair will request approval of the minutes of the May 23, 2024 Finance Committee meeting.

Download the Conservancy’s signed May 23, 2024 Finance Committee meeting minutes (PDF, 1 MB)

4. NBHCP Finance model comprehensive review

The NBHCP Finance Model (Finance Model) was first created in 1995 and it has been updated annually since 1999. The Finance Model was the subject of considerable review in the 2003 federal litigation (NWF v. Norton) and, having passed relatively unaltered, will run through 2053. As the Incidental Take Permits are approximately at the halfway point, management recommended conducting a comprehensive review of the Finance Model, where the Conservancy would review the report looking for ways to streamline the process, shortening the memo for ease of understanding, as well as reviewing all the assumptions that underlie the Finance Model. Based on management recommendation, the Board approved funding this project at its April 3, 2024 meeting (Resolution No. RS 24.04.04).

Conservancy management tasked itself and the consulting economists with the following:

1) Reviewed the Finance Model assumptions – Some areas were identified a benefitting from adjustment and were made. All adjustments were minor.

2) Shorten the memo – The previous Finance Model cover memo was 25 pages in length. The revised Finance Model memo in broken into six chapters, a summary chapter that provides an overview of the Finance Model and five additional chapters that summarize each fund. If the reader would like additional details, those will now be found in the appendices.

3) Streamline the process – Economic and Planning Systems (EPS), the consulting economists, found areas to streamline on the back end, that is, the relationship between the assumptions and the operational (programming) aspects used to calculate the resultant HCP fee recommendation. Also, annually, Conservancy staff will begin the Finance Model process about a month earlier than in years past. This will allow additional time for the review. Care will be taken to not begin so early that the relevant year’s costs cannot be used to achieve reliable Finance Model re-calculation results.

For purposes of comparison as to the expected impact of this review’s results and the Finance Model re-calculation, Conservancy management and EPS will present a draft revised Finance Model that compares the Board-approved 2024 Finance Model with the draft revised Finance Model. It will be pointed out that after the adjustments were made, the difference in the mitigation fee was less than one percent. This was encouraging to Conservancy management, and attests to the quality of the assumptions used in the Finance Model more than 25 years ago.

The input of the Finance Committee, as well as the input of representatives of the City of Sacramento and the County of Sutter are important. After all comments and any necessary revisions are made as a result of this review process, the revised Finance Model will be used for the 2025 NBHCP Finance Model/mitigation fee update.

If you would like a copy of the documents included in this item, please contact the Conservancy office.

5. Adjournment

Official adjournment of the meeting.