CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
February 6, 2023
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: Rene Guerrero, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: RESOLUTIONS DECLARING INTENTION TO FORM NEW PHILLIPS RANCH LANDSCAPING AND LIGHTING MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT, APPROVAL OF ENGINEERS REPORT, AND SETTING A DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
Adopt the following Resolutions:
RESOLUTION NO. 2023-18 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA, CALIFORNIA Initiating Proceedings for the proposed city of pomona phillilps ranch landscaping and lighting maintenance assessment district pursUant to the landscaping and lighting act of 1972 RESOLUTION NO. 2023-19 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA, CALIFORNIA Declaring its intention to order the formation of the proposed city of pomona phillips ranch landscaping and lighting maintenance assessment district pursuant to the landscaping and lighting act of 1972 and in accordance with article xiiid of the california constitution, and setting a public hearing thereon; Provide preliminary approval of the draft Engineer’s Report for the Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District; and Schedule a Public Hearing for April 3, 2023 and order the initiation of assessment ballot procedures.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Staff is recommending that City Council adopt Resolution 2023-18 (Attachment No. 1) to initiate proceedings to reorganize the territory currently known as Zones A and B within the City’s existing Consolidated Citywide Street Lighting and Landscaping Maintenance District into its own separate assessment district, tentatively called the “Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District” (District). Additionally, it is necessary for City Council to adopt Resolution 2023-19 (Attachment No. 2) to form the new District, and approve the draft Engineer’s Report (Attachment No. 3), which sets forth the boundaries, assessments, and other details of the current and proposed District. Finally, it is necessary to schedule a Public Hearing for April 3, 2023 to initiate the assessment ballot procedures.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The current actions being proposed will have no immediate fiscal impact. The fiscal impact to the current Phillips Ranch Zone AB Assessment District Fund (Fund 256) will be dependent upon the outcome of the ballot measure, to be voted on by property owners to increase the annual assessment from $277.81 to $511.58 by the close of the public hearing on April 4, 2023. It should be noted that the General Fund contributes to the maintenance of the parks within the Phillips Ranch Zone and will continue to do so with the formation of a new District.
DISCUSSION:
The formation of a new District, and any possible increase in the assessments, will be subject to a majority protest proceeding for the property owners within the territory in compliance with California Constitution Article XIIID and the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act Gov. Code Section 53730 et seq.
The City has been aware of a severe budget deficit in the Phillips Ranch Landscape Maintenance District (District) for several years. The District’s budget provides for landscape maintenance and lighting services managed by the City and paid for by an assessment that the Phillips Ranch property owners pay annually per the original Development Agreement. This annual assessment has remained at a fixed level since 1993, and has not seen any substantial increase to match the ever-increasing costs to providing landscape and lighting maintenance services. In 2008, an assessment increase to a sustainable level was proposed per Proposition 218 requirements. However, that ballot measure was voted down. In 2019, the City once again went through the Proposition 218 process to increase the assessment, which, if approved, would have increased the assessment by $17 per month, and include annual consumer price index (CPI) increases that would have been capped at five percent. This, too, did not pass. The City is faced with an almost total depletion of the reserves and a $410,000 deficit in this fund. As such, the City recently had to make substantial cuts in landscape maintenance, tree maintenance, and watering.
After the failure of the attempt to increase the assessment in 2019, a Phillips Ranch Oversight Committee (Committee) was formed to help the City prioritize health and safety needs with the limited funding provided by the current assessment. The Committee is comprised of seven residents from Phillips Ranch appointed by the City Council. The work of the Committee has resulted in a recommendation to increase the annual assessment for the District. Any changes to the assessment amounts is subject to a majority protest proceeding for the property owners within the Phillips Ranch Assessment District.
The City hired NBS Government Finance Group to prepare the Benefit Analysis for the Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Assessment District, which describes the financial and service level alternatives. NBS worked with the City Attorney to ensure the recommendations that came from the report met local, state, and federal regulations, including compliance with Proposition 218 and appropriate assessment district regulations. NBS will handle the noticing and protest ballot process, and will submit the appropriate materials (updated rate if approved and current rate if protested) to Los Angeles County by the FY 2023-24 property assessment deadline.
The Committee reviewed the Benefit Analysis for the Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting District and recommended an increase to the current annual assessment from $277.81 to $511.58, to be placed on a ballot, which will be subject to a majority protest proceeding for the property owners within the territory on April 3, 2023. If approved, this increase will help to fund deferred maintenance needs relating to street lighting and trees, landscape, and open space maintenance. Because of the requirements of Proposition 218, assessment districts must be separated into zones as they were before. Staff recommends that the City form a new District to cover the territory of Zone AB - the “Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District.” At the conclusion of the Public Hearing at the City Council meeting on April 3, 2023, ballots will be counted. Following the count, the results ordering either the original levy or the new levy will be presented to the City Council.
Alternatives:
The City Council is being asked to form the new Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District, order the mailing of the ballots, preliminarily approve the draft Engineer’s Reports for the Phillips Ranch Zone AB and the Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District, and set a public hearing date for April 3, 2023 to discuss the initiative and receive the final ballots.
The City Council has the following alternatives:
Do not adopt the attached resolution. Should Council not adopt the attached resolution, there will not be a ballot measure to increase the current annual assessment from $277.81 to $511.58. The assessment will remain at the same rate it has been since 1993, and the territory known as Phillips Ranch Zone AB will continue.
Adopt the attached resolutions. Should Council adopt the attached resolution, proceedings to form the new Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District will be initiated should the ballot measure pass, ballots will be mailed to property owners in this District, and a public hearing date will be set for April 3, 2023 to discuss the initiative and receive final ballots.
Prepared by:
Shandy Dittman, Public Works Fiscal and Project Manager ATTACHMENT:
Attachment No. 1 – Resolution No. 2023-18
Attachment No. 2 – Resolution No. 2023-19
Attachment No. 3 – Engineer’s Report for Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District Resolution Declaring Intent to Form New Phillips Ranch Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District