REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
To:Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From:Jason Simpson, City Manager
Prepared by:Shannon Buckley, Assistant City Manager
Date:July 22, 2025
Subject:Citywide Landscaping and Street Lighting District and the Landscaping and Street Lighting Maintenance District No. 1 for Fiscal Year 2025-26 Recommendation
1. Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE,
CALIFORNIA, CONFIRMING A DIAGRAM AND ASSESSMENT AND PROVIDING FOR
ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LEVY AFTER FORMATION OF A DISTRICT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025-26 FOR THE CITYWIDE LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING MAINTENANCE DISTRICT (LLMD); and
2. Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE,
CALIFORNIA, CONFIRMING A DIAGRAM AND ASSESSMENT AND PROVIDING FOR
ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LEVY AFTER FORMATION OF A DISTRICT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025-26 FOR THE LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING MAINTENANCE DISTRICT NO.1.
Background
The City Council established a Citywide Landscape Maintenance District (LLMD) in 1988 to maintain enhanced public street lighting, right-of-way landscaping, public street trees, and parks throughout the City. The Citywide LLMD was established under the California Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972. Several improvement areas were established within the Citywide LLMD based on the level and type of improvements maintained. These improvements then provided a basis for creating several benefit zones throughout the Citywide LLMD to ensure that parcels were assessed based on their special benefits.
Citywide Landscaping and Street Lighting
The Citywide LLMD only includes those facilities that are exempt, as determined by Proposition 218, a Constitutional Amendment passed by voters in November 1996. Park facilities are not exempt, per the Constitutional Amendment. Therefore, since November 1996, park maintenance has been removed from the Citywide LLMD and provided through the General Fund.
The Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 requires that an annual review and updated Engineer's Report be prepared to set assessment rates each Fiscal Year. Additionally, any new assessment districts or the annexation of additional property into existing assessment districts also requires an Engineer's Report to be generated. The Fiscal Year 2025-26 assessments in the Citywide LLMD and the LLMD No. 1 Final Engineer's Report will be assessed on the Fiscal Year 2025-26 tax roll and are calculated by considering all anticipated expenditures for maintenance, utilities, and administration. Any excess dollars from previous Fiscal Years are carried over to current reports, and the assessment amounts are adjusted accordingly.
The assessment rates may or may not change from Fiscal Year to Fiscal Year, depending on the maintenance to be performed, but cannot exceed the maximum amount set when the districts were initially formed, plus an annual cost-of-living adjustment (the Citywide LLMD has no cost-of- living adjustment). The amounts being assessed for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 tax year are either at or below the maximum assessment authorization. As a part of the process, the Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 requires that an Engineer's Report must be filed, and a Public Hearing be held.
On May 13, 2025, the City Council adopted the appropriate resolutions to commence the proceedings for the annual levy of assessments for Fiscal Year 2025-26 for the Citywide LLMD and the LLMD No. 1. The Public Hearing was set for July 8, 2025.
Discussion
The two attached Resolutions confirm the diagram and assessment and provide for an annual assessment levy for both districts for Fiscal Year 2025-26. Details of the assessments are provided in the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Final Engineer's Report for each district.
Fiscal Impact
The Citywide LLMD is anticipated to generate approximately $1,460,230 from the assessments to cover the anticipated landscaping and street lighting maintenance activities associated with public improvements benefiting properties within the district. The estimated cost for this maintenance is approximately $2,253,086. Accordingly, a General Fund subsidy of $792,856 is included in the proposed City of Lake Elsinore Fiscal Year 2025-26 Annual Operating Budget.
The assessment rates for parcels do not include an inflation factor; therefore, the rates have not increased over Fiscal Year 2024-25.
Citywide Landscaping and Street Lighting
LLMD No. 1 is anticipated to generate approximately $823,018 from the assessments to cover the anticipated landscaping and street lighting maintenance activities associated with public improvements benefiting properties within the district. There are approximately $823,918 in expenditures; therefore, LLMD No. 1 is generally self-supporting, with one exception. Zone 4 of LLMD No. 1 requires a contribution of $14,255 to cover the general benefit portion of the park maintenance costs, as required by Article XIII D of the State Constitution (Proposition 218). The assessment rates for LLMD No. 1 include a 2% inflationary increase.
Attachments
Attachment 1 - Resolution for Levy of Assessments Citywide LMD Attachment 2 - Resolution for Levy of Assessments LMD No. 1 Attachment 3 - Engineer's Report for Citywide LMD
Attachment 4 - Engineer's Report for LMD No. 1
Administrative Services