The city of Santa Clarita on Tuesday is looking to right-size the landscape fees for more than 600 Saugus properties, which haven’t been re-assessed in years.
The city started hosting meetings back in April in order to find out what residents in three of its landscaping zones want to do about its fees, which have not kept up with inflation or other cost-of-service increases.
That means every year for the last 10 years, the city has lost a little over $23,000 annually for the Bouquet Canyon district; $28,466 for the Shadow Hills district; and $7,233 in Canyon Heights.
In the spring, the city started asking residents about a range of options — a relatively stagnant level of service increase would cost about $100 for the least-expensive of the three zones, Bouquet Canyon, and a substantial service increase would be about $400 more.
City staff is recommending something somewhat in between, according to the agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
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.
The proposed fee increase for Bouquet Canyon would be from $300 to $600, in the council’s agenda; Canyon Heights would go from $600 to $875; and Shadow Hills would go from $455 to $1,125, a $670 increase.
City officials said through months of outreach, they heard back from 50 residents in the affected areas, “raising concerns about the lack of maintenance in their communities, highlighting issues such as deteriorating landscaping and aging infrastructure,” according to the agenda for Tuesday.
“Some noted that the city should have addressed these deficiencies earlier,” the report read. “Feedback received also reflected a general understanding and support for an increased assessment, though many expressed dissatisfaction with current service levels and reluctance to approve significant increases.”
If approved, the fee increases are expected to generate more than $224,000 annually for the city. 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.
• 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. The fee would go from $25 to $50.
• T-48, or “Shadow Hills,” which impacts 105 properties, mostly around Kathleen Avenue, between Lapine and Darroe avenues. Their fee would go from just under $38 per month to $93.75.
• 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. Their monthly fee would go from $50 per month to just under $73.
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.
“These increases will directly improve the care and safety of the landscaped slopes and trees behind and adjacent to homes in each zone,” according to the city. “Funding would allow for increased landscaping manpower; timely response to resident requests; and replacement or repair of aging irrigation systems, pumps, enclosures, V-ditches, backflow devices and related infrastructure.”
