More than 600 Saugus properties have been sent notices about an upcoming vote on fee increases for certain city landscape maintenance districts that haven’t been adjusted in years.
The three combined areas include approximately 30 acres of irrigated landscape and more than 1,500 trees that are costing the city of Santa Clarita’s landscape maintenance districts tens of thousands of dollars more than it’s collecting for upkeep each year.
The city’s presentation notes the oldest district of the three, called “Bouquet Canyon,” was formed in 1988, when the city was barely a year old; Shadow Hills, the following year, and then Canyon Heights in 1996. None had a consumer price index increase attached, and maximum assessments of $300, $455 and $600, respectively, were set for the district.
This was never adjusted for inflation, even after the districts were annexed into the city back in 2012-13, according to a city presentation explaining the need for a Proposition 218 vote. The 1996 voter-approved measure sets guidelines “to ensure that all taxes and most charges on property owners are subject to voter approval,” according to a legislative analysis.
“We plan to send ballots to the 622 property owners in the T44, T48, and T62 communities in mid-July,” according to an email Tuesday from Andrew Adams, the special districts manager for the city. “Property owners are being presented with options through a series of outreach efforts, including four events held in April and May.”
The city also plans to be placing door-hangers over the next two weeks, which also will “encourage residents to attend a final outreach event in late June, where they can ask questions and receive clarification,” Adams added.
He said the feedback gathered through these efforts will help determine the assessment options put to voters.
There are three specific landscape maintenance districts listed in the recent presentation shared with The Signal, which are:
• T-44, or “Bouquet Canyon,” which impacts 302 homes from the northern terminus of Shadow Valley Lane to Bouquet Canyon Road on the east, to David Way on the west and bordering Copper Hill Drive on the south.
• T-48, or “Shadow Hills,” which impacts 105 properties, mostly around Kathleen Avenue, between Lapine and Darroe avenues.
• T-62, or Canyon Heights, which impacts 215 properties, from Silver King Trail in the east to Rock Canyon Drive in the west, and the top of Haskell Canyon Road to Copper Hill.
City officials said they are still hosting community meetings to assess what options residents might want to see on the ballot.
Revenue collected from property taxes is allocated to the zone’s budget. The assessment amounts do not increase annually and have remained static due to the passage of Proposition 218, which restricts assessment increases apart from a balloting process.
“Zone T-48’s fund balance is in the red and this deficit continues to increase annually,” according to the city’s pamphlet. The increase, according to the city, “will ensure the city has the funds to properly maintain landscaping in your area.” The requested rate adjustments also would include an annual CPI adjustment not allowed to exceed 5% annually, based on the Long Beach-L.A.-Anaheim area.
The presentation also showed the current level of underfunded service and what those areas might look like under a maximum fee increase. All four scenarios presented by the city included a fee increase.
On the low end, the increase ranged from $100 more annually per parcel for a “relatively stagnant” service level, which would increase the cost from $300 to $400 annually, to the high end of $385 more per year, a 128% increase on LMD fees for that same parcel, which would represent a “substantial increase in service levels.”
The most expensive of the three tracts, Canyon Heights, would see its rate go from $600 annually to $775 annually to keep the same service level, or up to a $430 per year increase for the “substantial” service increase.
City officials also mentioned two potential scenarios if residents don’t approve any increase.
The first: “Services reduced to specific maintenance responsibilities depending on the zone (e.g., tree trimming and emergency response), with certain services transferred to the property owners (e.g., landscaping),” or a second option, “All services turned over to property owners.”
The next in-person meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 26 in Arroyo Seco Junior High’s Multipurpose Room. The campus is located at 27171 Vista Delgado Drive.
A link to the city’s survey is available here: https://bit.ly/3Fp40Ij.
