07-05-2022 CC RPT 46 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sycamore Highlands Landscape Maintenance District Round 3Page 2 apportioning those costs to the property owners within the District. The City assesses all parcels within the District annually, regardless of development status. On June 7, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution 23859 approving the Preliminary Annual Engineer's Report for Landscape Maintenance District No. 88-1 ( Sycamore Highlands) and setting a public hearing for July 5, 2022, to approve the Final Annual Engineer's Report for Landscape Maintenance District No. 88-1 and authorizing the levy of special assessments within the District. DISCUSSION: The procedures of the Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 require the City Council to hold a Public Hearing prior to the adoption of a resolution confirming the Annual Engineers Report and establishing the FY 2022/23 annual assessments for Landscape Maintenance District No 88-1 (Sycamore Highlands.) The District formation process sets an annual assessment increase based on the cumulative percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban consumers (CPI-U) for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, California Standard Metropolitan Statistical area as published by the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics ("the Bureau"). In December 2017, the Bureau discontinued the original index, and replaced it with two new indexes (Riverside -San Bernardino-Ontario and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim). Starting in FY 2019/20, the City began using the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Index, as it most closely mirrors local assessed valuation changes. Using the prior index, the adjustment was calculated based upon a combination of the cumulative increases in the original index as it was in December of each year over the base index in December 1996 of 158.3. The original index ended with a cumulative increase of 63.75% over the base year. To use the new index, which publishes every other month, the escalation period was changed to January and began at a scale of 100 for FY 2018/19. Adding the cumulative percentage increase of the new Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Index of 17.88% to the ending cumulative increase of the original index of 63.75% results in a cumulative percentage change total for both indexes of 81.63%. Using this methodology, the maximum allowed assessment for FY 2022/23 is $105.35 ($58.00 base year increased by a cumulative factor of 81.63%). At the end of each fiscal year staff review actual expenditures against collected assessments and any unspent balance remains with the District to cover expenditures in the following year. The estimated landscape maintenance costs for FY 2022/23 for the District are $120,500. There is an existing agreement between the City and Castlerock Apartment Homes (formerly Riverside Sycamore Apartments) which allows for the property owner to maintain a section of landscaping, receiving a proportional credit to the property. That credit for FY 2022/23 is estimated to be $8,322.43. The annual assessment for FY 2022/23 is $105.35 per residential parcel or equivalent dwelling unit (EDU), which is the maximum allowed assessment. This minus the Castlerock credit equals a total proposed annual assessment of $102,292.18. The difference between estimated costs and estimated revenue (prior to the credit) indicates a shortfall of $9,885 to be covered by the General Fund and any remaining funds from FY 2021/22.