Saratoga News

Special districts need to vote on any raises in assessments

By Sarah Lombardo

Residents who live in any of Saratoga's 20 landscaping and lighting districts currently being assessed will be receiving a little something extra this year with their district assessment notices: ballots. And the city really wants property owners to send those ballots back.

The ballots are a result of the passage of Proposition 218, which limits local governments' ability to raise taxes and collect assessment fees. Under Prop. 218, which passed in November, any increase in the assessments in the landscaping and lighting districts must be put to a vote among the residents affected. Under the old system, the city would estimate the cost of maintaining the districts for the next year and mail out notices to residents of the assessment to be charged and added to their property taxes. If residents didn't agree with the assessment, they could file a protest and and make their views known at a protest hearing.

"If a majority protested, the city could not impose the assessment," said Larry Perlin, acting city manager and director of public works. "And that has never happened."

But along came Prop. 218, which supersedes the majority-protest hearing with a direct vote on whether the assessment is to be increased.

"So, what we have to do is mail out postcard ballots along with the notices, and then they are tallied," Perlin said. "And rather than a majority protest hearing where only those who filed were counted against the assessment, we now have a situation under 218 where only the property owners who return their ballots are counted. Under the old system, if you didn't file a protest, it was assumed you voted yes."

According to Perlin, that means that in a district of 100 property owners, if only 10 residents remember to send back their ballots, those 10 make the decision for the rest of the residents.

Rich Gurney, president of the Sunland Park Homeowners' Association, said making property owners aware of the new system could be difficult, especially if the property owners aren't necessarily the residents of the districts.

"I think it will be an interesting challenge to try to get the ballots sent back. It's an even bigger issue with the rentals," Gurney said.

According to Gurney, if property owners forget to send back their ballots or aren't aware they need to do so, residents may lose the benefit of the district.

Saratoga's first landscaping and lighting districts were established in the early 1980s and consisted of nine zones. Their purpose is to provide for the maintenance and administration of landscaping or lighting in the districts: The city does the busywork of hiring landscapers and making sure streetlights are maintained, adding the costs to residents' property tax bill each year. According to Perlin, the these assessments have gone up and down over the years, but have tended to stabilize in recent years. Most residents, he said, think it is worth it to have lighted streets and well-maintained landscaping without having to think about these jobs themselves. But now, if property owners forget to send in their ballots, the districts could be at risk.

Perlin said if more "no" ballots than "yes" ballots are received,the city has three options: Stop paying for the districts, turn off the lights and cancel the gardeners; pay the costs itself; or charge the same assessment as last year and scale down service. Perlin said in light of the current budget situation, it seems unlikely that the city could pay for the districts, and he wonders how long the city could keep assessments the same before scaling down services isn't cost-effective anymore.

John Heindel, the civil engineer currently doing the districts' assessments, said Saratoga is not alone in its confusion over what to do with Prop. 218. "[Cities] are all wrestling with what we need to do because the interpretation is so difficult," he said. "Some say that it doesn't take effect until July 1. Some say it took effect the day after the election. . . . This year [cities] don't have much guidance."