DATE: June 3, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Maintenance Services Director
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution of Intention to Preliminarily Approve the Engineer’s Report and Assessments for Fiscal Year 2026; and Set June 24, 2025, as the Public Hearing Date for Such Actions for Consolidated Landscaping and Lighting District No. 96-1, Zones 1 through 18
RECOMMENDATION
That Council adopts a resolution of intention (Attachment II) to preliminarily approve the Engineer’s report (Attachment III) and assessments for Landscaping and Lighting District No. 96-1 for FY 2026 and sets June 24, 2025 as the public hearing date.
SUMMARY
The Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 requires an annual review and update of the Engineer’s Report to set annual assessment rates for each benefit zone. Assessment rate recommendations are made based on annual expenses, required cash flow, and capital replacement requirements.
Recommended annual assessment rates cannot exceed the Maximum Base Assessment (MBA) Rate established when a zone was originally formed. The annual engineer’s report is included as Attachment III and includes a detailed summary for each of the eighteen benefit zones.
BACKGROUND
The Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 (Streets and Highways Code §22500) is a flexible tool used by local government agencies to form Landscaping and Lighting Assessment Districts to finance the cost and expense of operating, maintaining, and servicing landscaping (including parks), and lighting improvements in public areas. In 1996, six separate Landscaping and Lighting Districts, Benefit Zones 1-6, were consolidated into one district, Consolidated Landscaping and Lighting Assessment District No. 96-1, “the District,” by the adoption of Resolution No. 96-63. In subsequent years, zones 7-18 were individually created and annexed into the District. This staff report and attached engineer’s report provide assessment, benefit, and budget details for each of the established eighteen zones. Table 1 on the following page provides a summary of the benefit zones, including the year in which each zone was formed and the number of assessable parcels within each zone.
TABLE 1: DESCRIPTION OF BENEFIT ZONES
A B C D E
Zone Name/Location Year Formed Type of
Development
Number of Assessed
Parcels/SFE
1 Huntwood Ave. and Panjon St. 1990 Residential 30
2 Harder Rd. and Mocine Ave. 1991 Residential 85
3 Prominence 1992 Residential 155
4 Stratford Village 1995 Residential 174
5 Soto Rd. and Plum Tree St. 1995 Residential 38
6 Pepper Tree Park 1982 Industrial 11
7 Twin Bridges 1998 Residential 348
8 Capitola St. 1999 Residential 24
9 Orchard Ave. 2000 Residential 74
10 Eden Shores 2003 Residential 534
11 Stonebrae 2006, 2018, 2020 Residential 644
12 Eden Shores East (Spindrift) 2007, 2016 Residential 379 13 Cannery Place 2008 Residential 599
14 La Vista 2016 Residential 179
15 Cadence 2017 Residential 206
16 Blackstone 2016 Residential 157
17 Parkside Heights 2019 Residential 97
18 SoHay 2019 Residential 433
Total Assessed Parcels: 4,167
Self-Maintained.
DISCUSSION
Recommended changes to a zone’s annual assessment rate are based on annual expenses, required cash flow, and capital replacement requirements. When determining the annual assessment rate, staff looks at two things:
(1) Maximum Base Assessment (MBA) – The MBA is the maximum assessment rate that a parcel can be charged annually. This amount is established during the original formation of the zone.
The annual MBA can only be increased if an inflation factor was included in the original formation document.
(2) Assessment Revenue – The assessment revenue is the annual amount of revenue collected by charging each parcel an assessment rate. The assessment rate recommendation depends on review of the following three items:
a. Annual Expenses – Annual operating and maintenance expenses are estimated based on past years’ experience and future years’ estimates. Expenses include staff administration, noticing, and annual reporting.
b. Cash Flow – This is the amount of “cash” needed to pay monthly invoices when revenue is not received monthly (assessment rates are received through property tax revenues collected by Alameda County, which are transmitted to the City three times a year (January, May, and June).
c. Capital Replacement – This is the “savings account” where funds are collected and reserved each year to fund future capital replacement items. Future capital expenses are estimated based on an inventory of capital items, their useful life, and future replacement cost.
Table 2 on the following page summarizes assessment information by zone. The table provides assessment details for each zone by describing the number of parcels, if there is an annual inflation adjustment included in the MBA rate, the FY 2025 assessment rate, and the change between last year’s adopted assessment and this year’s recommended assessment.
For FY 2026, staff recommends no change to four zones (Zones: 5, 6, 15, 16 and 18) and fourteen increases (Zones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 17), based on annual expenses, required cash flow, and future capital replacement.
Proposition 218 Compliance
For FY 2026, all assessments are proposed to be levied in compliance with Proposition 218 and do not require the noticing and balloting of property owners to obtain their approval. Any future increases in the assessment amounts that would exceed the MBA amount would require noticing and balloting of property owners.
FISCAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the City’s General Fund from this recommendation; all expenditures are paid by assessment rates in each respective zone. All zones have adequate cash balances for annual expenses, cash flow, and capital replacement at this time.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item is not directly related to the Council’s Strategic Roadmap.
A B C D E F G H I J
Zone Name/Location # Parcels CPI Adj FY 2026 Max Base
Assessment
FY 2026
Rate
FY 2025
Assessment
1 Huntwood Ave. and Panjon St. 30 No 295.83 247.73 235.94 Incr 11.80 5% 2 Harder Rd. and Mocine Ave. 85 No 193.39 139.52 135.45 Incr 4.07 3% 3 Prominence 155 Yes 11,175.66 1,101.36 1,069.29 Incr 32.07 3% 4 Stratford Village 174 No 180.00 133.27 126.93 Incr 6.34 5% 5 Soto Rd. and Plum Tree St. 38 No 258.67 258.67 258.67 None - 0% 6 Pepper Tree Park 11 No 2.61 2.61 2.61 None - 0% 7 Twin Bridges 348 Yes 1,229.68 698.08 664.83 Incr 33.25 5% 8 Capitola St. 24 Yes 879.48 215.97 205.68 Incr 10.29 5% 9 Orchard Ave. 74 Yes 234.82 40.34 38.41 Incr 1.93 5% 10 Eden Shores 534 Yes 1,400.28 365.16 344.49 Incr 20.67 6% 11a Stonebrae (Developed) 617 Yes 1,986.08 449.00 408.18 Incr 40.82 10% 11b Stonebrae (Undeveloped) 27 Yes 595.82 237.97 216.34 Incr 21.63 10% 12a Eden Shores - East 261 Yes 263.16 110.41 104.16 Incr 6.25 6% 12b Eden Shores East (Spindrift) 118 Yes 254.40 110.41 104.16 Incr 6.25 6% 13 Cannery Place 599 Yes 1,493.46 442.84 417.78 Incr 25.06 6% 14 La Vista 179 Yes 769.46 704.16 683.65 Incr 20.51 3% 15 Cadence 206 Yes 746.18 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 16a Blackstone (Zone A) 133 Yes 532.16 516.66 516.66 None - 0% 16b Blackstone (Zone B) 24 Yes 558.76 542.48 542.48 None - 0% 17 Parkside Heights 97 Yes 476.88 600.37 582.88 Incr 17.49 3% 18a SoHay Zone A (Developed) 192 Yes 453.04 300.00 300.00 None - 0% 18b SoHay Zone A (Undeveloped) 69 Yes 476.88 90.00 90.00 None - 0% 18c SoHay Zone B (Developed) 79 Yes 453.04 285.00 285.00 None - 0% 18d SoHay Zone B (Undeveloped) 93 Yes 135.91 85.50 85.50 None - 0% TABLE 2: ASSESSMENT AMOUNTS BY BENEFIT ZONE
Change from last year
PUBLIC CONTACT
City staff: 1) mailed a postcard to all affected property owners to provide details of their recommended FY 2026 assessment rate and to alert them to two Council meetings where they could provide input (June 3 and June 24); 2) held a virtual meeting on May 28 via Zoom; and 3) will publish a printed legal notice in the East Bay Times on or before June 13, 2025.
NEXT STEPS
Following this Council meeting, the City is proposing to hold a public hearing on June 24, 2025, to provide an opportunity for any interested person to be heard. After the public hearing, the Council may adopt a resolution setting the annual assessment amounts as originally proposed or as modified. Following the adoption of this resolution, the final assessor’s roll will be prepared and filed with the County Auditor’s office to be included on the FY 2026 tax roll. Payment of the assessment for each parcel will be made in the same manner and at the same time as payments are made for property taxes. All funds collected through the assessment must be placed in a special fund and can only be used for the purposes stated within this report.
If Council adopts the attached resolution of intention, a noticed public hearing on June 24, 2025, to consider approving the Engineer’s Report and ordering the levy of assessments for FY 2026 will be scheduled.
Prepared by: Manny Grewal, Management Analyst
Recommended by: Todd Rullman, Maintenance Services Director Approved by:
___________________________________________
Michael Lawson, J.D., Acting City Manager