San Leandro Municipal Code Ch. 2-5 Maintenance Assessment Districts

(Legislative History: Ordinance No. 96-05, 4/15/96 (Sections 2-5-100—2-5-470))

This Chapter shall be known as the San Leandro Maintenance Assessment District Ordinance.

This Chapter is an alternative to other provisions of this Code and to the general laws of the State of California. When the City Council elects to proceed under this Chapter, no other provisions of this Code or of the general laws shall apply to the proceedings except as specifically stated in this Chapter.

This Chapter shall be construed liberally to effect its purpose. All findings and decisions made by the City Council pursuant to this Chapter shall be final.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and phrases as used in this Chapter shall have the meanings used in this section.

City.

"City" means the City of San Leandro.

Costs or Expenses.

"Costs" or "expenses" means the cost of maintenance of an improvement, including without limitation direct costs and all associated and incidental costs such as supervisory, administrative, engineering and legal services, and costs of assessment collection and enforcement, performed by any person on behalf of the City.

County.

"County" means the County of Alameda.

District or Maintenance District.

"District" or "Maintenance District" means a maintenance district formed pursuant to this Chapter.

Director.

"Director" means the Director of Engineering and Transportation or any other person delegated the responsibility by the City Council to prepare the Engineer's Report described in Section 2-5-405.

Fiscal Year.

"Fiscal year" means the fiscal year in effect from time to time for general fiscal matters of the City.

Improvement.

"Improvement" means any public capital improvement of a local nature, including without limitation any improvement described in the Improvement Act of 1911 (Sections 5000 and following, California Streets and Highways Code), the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913 (Sections 10000 and following, California Streets and Highways Code), and the Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 (Sections 22500 and following, California Streets and Highways Code).

Maintenance.

"Maintenance" means the maintenance, servicing, watering, fertilizing, trimming, mowing, weeding, draining, painting, graffiti removal, repair, replacement, rehabilitation, resurfacing or operation of Improvements as defined in this section, including without limitation the furnishing of fertilizer, water, power, heat and other resources and utilities as may be required, and any other actions of a similar nature which are reasonably related to preserving the subject Improvement in a serviceable condition and appearance or restoring the subject Improvement to a serviceable condition and appearance.

Net Area.

"Net area" means the area of a parcel proposed to be assessed but excluding any portion thereof within a public easement, right-of-way or street or any portion thereof excluded by a line established pursuant to this Chapter to create one or more zones or benefit and shown on the assessment diagram for the maintenance district.

Owner.

"Owner" means the owner of land within a maintenance district or proposed district as shown on the last equalized assessment roll for taxes of the County, or as known to the City Clerk or the Director.

Wherever in this Chapter notice is required to be given, it shall be given as follows:

(a) Notice by mail shall be given by depositing the notice in the United States mail, first class, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner at the address shown on the last equalized assessment roll of the County, or to such other address of the owner as known to the City Clerk or the Director of Engineering and Transportation. At the discretion of the City, notice may instead be given by certified or registered mail, with or without return receipt requested, or by personal service. The notice shall be effective on the date of its deposit in the United States mail or the date of personal service.

(b) Notice by publication shall be given by publishing the notice once in a newspaper of general circulation published within the City.

(c) A copy of the notice shall also be posted by the City Clerk in a conspicuous public location customarily utilized by the City Clerk for the posting of public notices or the City.

(d) Upon the completion of the mailing, publishing and posting of the notice, the City Clerk shall file a certificate, setting forth the time and manner of the compliance with the requirements of this section for such publishing, posting, and mailing.

Whenever the City Council determines to form a maintenance district pursuant to this Chapter, it shall adopt a resolution which:

(a) States the intention of the City Council to form a maintenance district pursuant to this Chapter, and assigns a distinctive name and address to the proposed maintenance district.

(b) Generally describes the Improvements to be maintained.

(c) Describes the proposed boundaries of the maintenance district. The boundaries may be described by reference to a map on file with the City Clerk. The boundaries need not be contiguous. Only land benefiting from the maintenance of the improvements or portions thereof shall be included within the boundaries.

(d) Directs the Director to prepare and file the Engineer's Report described in this Chapter.

As specified in the resolution of intention, the Director shall prepare an Engineer's Report for the proposed maintenance district. The Engineer's Report shall include the following:

(a) A description of the improvements to be maintained. The description may be by reference to plans included in the Engineer's Report or referred to in the Engineer's Report although separately bound.

(b) A budget for the first fiscal year commencing after formation of the maintenance district in accordance with Section 2-5-455 of this Chapter. The budget shall include a statement of the sources and uses of funds of the maintenance district and an estimate of the total costs and expenses of maintenance of the improvements during the first fiscal year after formation of the maintenance district. If maintenance of the improvements will commence during the fiscal year then in progress at the time of the formation proceedings, the budget may include the estimated costs and expenses of maintenance and of the improvements for that portion of the fiscal year then in progress, as well as the estimated costs and expenses of maintenance of the improvements for the first fiscal year after formation of the maintenance district.

(c) A statement of the formula or method by which the Director proposes to allocate the costs and expenses of maintenance among the parcels to be specially assessed. The costs and expenses may be apportioned by any method or formula which fairly and equitably distributes them on the basis of the estimated benefits to be received by each parcel from the maintenance of the improvements or portions thereof. For this purpose, the maintenance district may be divided into zones of benefit, the boundaries of which shall then be shown on the assessment diagram. The statement shall also include a statement of the formula or method by which the amount of the assessment to be levied upon parcels which are newly created after formation of the maintenance district (whether by recorded map or other lawful procedure recognized by the County Assessor for Assessor's Parcel Map purposes) will be established.

(d) An assessment roll containing:

(1) The assessment number assigned on the assessment diagram to each parcel to be specifically assessed, which assessment number may be the County Assessor's Tax Parcel Number;

(2) If the County Assessor's Tax Parcel Number is not used as the assessment number, the assessment roll shall also contain the corresponding County Assessor's Tax Parcel Number;

(3) The amount of each proposed assessment for the first fiscal year after formation of the maintenance district (which amount may include costs and expenses for the portion of the fiscal year then in progress during the formation proceedings); and

(4) The amount of the maximum annual assessment which may be levied upon parcels in the maintenance district in any fiscal year.

(e) An assessment diagram showing each parcel of land to be specifically assessed for the costs and expenses of the maintenance of the improvements. Each parcel on the assessment diagram shall be labeled with its assessment number, which may be the County Assessor's Tax Parcel Number. The lines and dimensions of each parcel shall, as nearly as practicable, conform to the County Assessor's parcel maps; or the assessment diagram may be derived from the County Assessor's parcel maps. In the event that zones of benefit are being utilized, the assessment diagram shall indicate by distinctive lines and designations the respective zones of benefit. The assessment diagram may consist of one or more sheets and may be included in the Engineer's Report in a reduced format to facilitate reproduction and distribution.

(f) A list of the names and addresses of the owners of the parcels to be assessed, as shown on the last equalized assessment roll for Alameda County property taxes or as known to the City Clerk or the Director.

Upon completion of the Engineer's Report, the Director shall file the Engineer's Report with the City Clerk for presentation to the City Council. The City Council may preliminarily accept the Engineer's Report as submitted for purposes of hearing, may modify it and accept it preliminarily as modified, or may reject it.

If the Engineer's Report is preliminarily accepted, either as presented or as modified, the City Council shall set a date, time and place for each of two hearings, namely an information hearing and a public hearing thereon, in conformity with the provisions or 54954.6 of the California Government Code, and shall direct the City Clerk to give notice of the hearings in the time and manner required by said Section 54954.6, as supplemented by Section 2-5-415 of this Chapter.

(a) Notice of the hearings on the Engineer's Report shall be mailed to each owner at least 15 days, and shall be published and posted at least 10 days, before the day set for the information hearing. The notice shall:

(1) State that the City Council intends to order formation of a maintenance district pursuant to this Chapter.

(2) Describe in general the location and boundaries of the maintenance district.

(3) Describe in general the Improvements to be maintained.

(4) State that the City Council intends to levy an annual special assessment on each parcel of land within the proposed maintenance district, not to exceed the maximum amount shown in the Engineer's Report for each such parcel, to pay the costs and expenses of maintenance of the improvements and that such special assessment will be levied annually for an indefinite period, unless a finite period is specified in the resolution of intention, in which case the finite period shall be stated.

(5) State that the Engineer's Report is on file with the City Clerk and is open to public inspection.

(6) State the date, time and place for each of the two hearings and indicate that the first hearing is an information hearing and that the second hearing is a public hearing of protests.

(7) State the name and telephone number of a City employee who will be responsible for responding to questions about the proposed maintenance district.

(8) State that any owner, before the time set for the second hearing, may file a written protest with the City Clerk against the formation of the proposed maintenance district, the boundaries of the maintenance district, the performing of the maintenance therefor, the improvements to be maintained, the amount of the owner's assessment or maximum annual assessment, or any other aspect of the proposed maintenance district.

(9) State that each written protest shall include the name of the owner, the address or description of the owner's land sufficient to identify it and the specific grounds on which the protest is made,

(10) State that any owner or other interested person, whether or not filing a written protest, may be. heard by the City Council at the second hearing.

(11) Set forth the assessment number, the County Assessor's Tax Parcel Number, the amount of the proposed first annual assessment and the proposed maximum annual assessment on the land of the owner to whom the notice is mailed.

Any owner may file a written protest with the City Clerk before the time set for the second hearing pursuant to Section 2-5-430. The City Clerk shall not be required to accept written protests after the time set for the opening of the second hearing. Any written protest may be withdrawn in writing by the owner at any time before the conclusion of the second hearing.

At the time set for the first hearing, to be an information hearing, the Director shall present a summary of the contents of the Engineer's Report. Following the Director's presentation, any interested person may ask questions respecting the contents of the Engineer's Report, and the Director will be directed to respond to all such questions. The City Council shall not be obligated to hear any statement of protest or objection at the first hearing.

At the time set for the second hearing on the Engineer's Report, the City Council shall consider all written protests and shall hear and consider all protests made orally by any interested person. The hearing may be continued from time to time. During the hearing or at its conclusion, the City Council may direct the Director to exclude land from the boundaries of the proposed maintenance district which the City Council determines is not specially benefited, may direct the Director to reduce the scope of improvements to be maintained, and may direct the director to decrease the amount of any assessment or maximum assessment, provided that any such reduction which is not made in the same proportion to all assessments shall be based upon the determination of the City Council that such non-proportional reduction is necessary to achieve an allocation of the costs and expenses or maintenance to the benefited parcels in proportion to the estimated benefits to be received.

If, at the conclusion of the hearing, written protests not withdrawn have been filed by the owners of more than 50% of the net area assessed, the City Council shall abandon the proceedings for the formation of the maintenance district and shall not reinstitute proceedings to form substantially the same maintenance district during the 12 months following such abandonment, unless the protests have been overruled by the affirmative vote of at least four-fifths (4/5) of all of the members of the City Council.

At the conclusion of the second hearing on the Engineer's Report, unless proceedings for formation of the maintenance district have been abandoned, the City Council may order the formation of the maintenance district, approve the maximum annual assessments and levy the assessments for the ensuing fiscal year, as proposed or as modified by the City Council, on the City Council's finding that the assessments are in proportion to the estimated benefits to be received by the respective parcels assessed from the maintenance of the improvements.

Following formation of the maintenance district and the levy of the first annual assessment, the Director shall annually file with the City Clerk the proposed budget, a proposed roll of assessments, and an assessment diagram for the ensuing fiscal year. The assessment diagram shall conform with the County Assessor's Parcel Maps, as nearly as practicable, and shall reflect any newly-created parcels shown on the County Assessor's Parcel Maps. The assessment diagram may be derived from a copy of the County Assessor's Parcel Maps. The proposed roll of assessments shall reflect any changes made necessary by a change in the configuration of parcels within the maintenance district.

Thereupon the City Council, before August 1 of each year, without further notice or public hearing, may by resolution levy an annual assessment on the parcels of land within the maintenance district in an amount not exceeding the maximum annual assessment for any parcel of land as determined by the City Council pursuant to Section 2-5-440.

After formation of the maintenance district and annually thereafter following the levy of the annual assessments, the Director shall file with the Alameda County Auditor a copy of the annual assessment roll and assessment diagram, with the request that the assessments be posted to the County secured property tax roll. The annual assessment roll and assessment diagram shall be filed on or before August 1 of the fiscal year in which the assessments are to be collected. The assessments shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as general property taxes and shall bear the same proportionate penalties for delinquency in payment. After deduction of collection charges of the County, the net amount of assessments collected shall be remitted to the City for the account of the maintenance district.

For each maintenance district formed hereunder, a budget shall be established annually by the City Council as part of the regular budget approval process for the City as a whole. Each such maintenance district budget shall show the sources and uses of funds and the resulting total costs and expenses of maintenance to be assessed upon the parcels of land in the maintenance district. A surplus or a deficit in any maintenance district's account at the end of each fiscal year shall be carried over to the following fiscal year.

The City may make a contribution or loan to any maintenance district's account at any time from other funds of the City lawfully available for such purpose. Any such loan shall be repaid in the manner determined by the City Council at the time the loan is approved. Interest earned on fund balances shall be credited to the account of the maintenance district.

From time to time the City Council may make changes to any maintenance district formed hereunder. The following changes shall be made only after the affected owners have been given notice and public hearings in the manner provided herein for the formation of the maintenance district:

(a) Annexation of land to the maintenance district, without written consent of the owners of all land to be annexed.

(b) A material change in the scope of improvements to be maintained.

(c) A change in the formula or method by which the costs and expenses of maintenance are distributed among the parcels of land in the maintenance district.

(d) An increase in the maximum annual assessment on any parcel.

(e) In the event that a finite period of time was authorized for the levy of assessments at the time of maintenance district formation, any extension of the period of years for which the levy of assessments is authorized.

The maintenance of the improvements may be performed by City forces to the extent allowed by the City's Charter and Municipal Code and/or by one or more contractors retained by the City. The lettering of contracts for Maintenance shall be accomplished in accordance with general procedures and requirements for public works contracts of the City. The account of the maintenance district shall be charged for all direct costs, supervision and administration costs in accordance with normal and reasonable costs account standards and procedures, whether performed by the City and/or by a contractor,

Procedures for the formation of a maintenance district pursuant to this Chapter may be consolidated with procedures for the construction or acquisition of the improvements pursuant to any other provision of this Code or pursuant to any law of the State of California, including without limitation the Improvement Act of 1911, the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913, or the Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972, or any other procedure of a similar nature under the general statutes of the State of California.