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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-12-06; City Council; 9766; Funding street tree and median landscapingOF CARLSBAD — AGENT BILL TITLE: MTG 12-6-88mi» FUNDING STREET TREE AND MEDIAN PEPT. U/M 1ANDSCAPING SERVICES THROUGH ASSESSMENTS O & RECOMMENDED ACTION: 1. Council approve, in principle, funding street tree maintenance and median landscape maintenance services through assessments levied by the City's Landscaping and Lighting Act (LLA) District; such funding to be phased in over a three (3) year period. 2. Council direct staff to prepare the appropriate documents and reports to accomplish adding the new services to the LLA District for Council consideration at the regular street lighting assessment hearing. ITEM EXPLANATION! In recent years, the demand for certain City maintenance services has increased and service levels are barely adequate. Staff has been reviewing several City maintenance functions to determine if stable funding sources could be developed to meet increased demands and assure adequate service levels. In the attached report, staff has identified street tree maintenance and median landscape maintenance as services that are underfunded and could be funded through special assessments since benefit to individual parcels can be identified. The report also identifies the funding level required to adequately fund the services, an assessment mechanism, and a benefit assessment method. The assessment mechanism, the 1972 Landscaping and Lighting Act District, presently levies assessments for street lighting, only. Staff recommends approval in principle of the proposed funding mechanism and referral of the proposal for further Council consideration at a noticed public hearing. Approval of staff's recommendation does not commit the Council to levying assessments for Street Tree and Median Landscape Maintenance services, rather, Council simply reserves the ability to consider the proposal at a noticed public hearing. FISCAL IMPACT; Should the Council ultimately approve the proposal after the public hearing, approximately $200,000 of general fund expenditures for fiscal year 89-90 will be shifted to assessments in the first year, increasing to approximately $600,000 by the third year. The intent of staff's recommendation is to provide an adequate maintenance budget and a reliable funding source for street tree and landscaping services. Accordingly, the recommendation contemplates increasing the street tree and median maintenance budgets to an adequate level of funding and financing the budget through the assessment district, phasing in over a three (3) year period. Ultimate approval of the recommendation will, in the first year, add $13 to the annual street light benefit assessment and resultO in an increase from $25 to $38. O ° EXHIBITS: 1. Feasibility Study. UTILITIES AND MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT FEASIBILITY STUDY; FUNDING STREET TREE AND MEDIAN LANDSCAPING SERVICES THROUGH ASSESSMENTS BACKGROUND Experience in recent years had indicated that general fund revenues may not be sufficient to adequately fund certain City operations in future years. Accordingly, staff has been evaluating City services to determine those services that could/should be funded through revenue sources other than general fund revenues. Street tree maintenance and median landscape maintenance service provided by the City are of benefits to a certain number of properties. In the case of street tree maintenance, a portion of the parcels in the City benefit from the service while many parcels in the City receive no benefit. In the case of median landscape maintenance, all parcels in the City benefit with some parcels benefiting to a greater degree. As a result of the benefit issue, these services may be appropriate for funding through special assessments. STREET TREE MAINTENANCE Street tree maintenance services are provided to the older portion of the City lying generally east and west of 1-5 and north of Aqua Hedionda Lagoon and a significant portion of the La Costa area in South Carlsbad. Street tree maintenance service areas are shown in the attached Exhibit A. Limited funding in recent years has caused the street tree maintenance program to change from a fully planned, preventive maintenance program to that of a service which responds primarily to citizen complaints. Funds for street tree maintenance have remained constant yet the demand for service, as well as the number of trees, has increased significantly over the last 5 years. As a result, street trees have deteriorated in quality due to the lack of planned, scheduled maintenance and pruning. Diseased and pest infested trees are not promptly treated, have died and had to be removed. At the present time, the annual cost of street tree maintenance is $255,000. To restore the street tree maintenance program to a quality level of scheduled maintenance, as well as responding to citizen request, will require an initial first year budget of $446,500. The major increase would be for capital equipment costs of $120,000. The equipment costs could be spread over a 5 year period reflecting an annual budget of $360,000, approximately 41 percent more than is presently provided. This increase will restore the program to a quality level of scheduled maintenance and provide for: a programmed Street Tree Maintenance system where by every tree in the City is pruned on a 5 to 7 year turn around basis depending on species and size. In addition, all emergency tree problems and citizen requests will continue to be addressed daily without disruption of the scheduled program. To address the issue of assessment of benefit, provide a stable source of funding and restore the program to a meaningful level of service, staff recommends that funding for the Street Tree Maintenance Program be provided through assessments levied by the 1972 Landscaping and Lighting Act District. MEDIAN LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE SERVICES Street Median Landscape Maintenance Services are/or will be provided to landscaped medians in Palomar Airport Road, Rancho Santa Fe Road, El Camino Real, College, Melrose, Alga, Poinsettia, Elm, Carlsbad Blvd., Paseo del Norte, La Costa Avenue, as well as landscaping in the Redevelopment area. Landscaped medians are planted with drought tolerant plants in accordance with the City's Landscape Manual standards. (Please see attached Exhibit "B") For fiscal year 88-89, the Median Landscape Maintenance Program is funded at $65,000. This amount is approximately equal to what has been budgeted the last 3 years. The number of medians with landscaping has increased over 100 percent from the previous fiscal year, with several additional medians planned for the near future. The increased demands created by additional landscaped medians has resulted in a lower level of maintenance. Weed removal, irrigation repairs, fertilizing, trimming, and pruning are presently performed below the department's adopted standards thereby resulting in a decreased quality in the appearance of the medians. Reduced maintenance schedules also result in poor water management since irrigation system irregularities are not quickly identified and repaired. To provide the quality level of maintenance expected by the residents of Carlsbad an annual budget of $133,000 will be required to adequately fund the median landscape maintenance program in fiscal year 1989-90. The new program will insure clean, neatly maintained medians through the following operations: A. Weekly scheduled cleaning, including litter removal B. Weekly maintenance including trimming and weed removal C. Plant replacement as needed. D. Fertilizer applicants twice annually E. Pre-emergent herbicide applications, 3 times per year F. Growth retardants and proper insecticides when required G. Close monitoring of irrigation systems and renovation of older systems to more efficient drip irrigation. The above program will deliver a first class product. The annual budget of $133,000 represents a 105 percent increase over current year allocations. City of Carlsbad development requirements provide for the improvement of all medians on prime arterials within the City. At the present time, staff is maintaining 11 miles of median landscaping. If City policy is followed, it is likely that as much as 30+ miles of median will require maintenance at buildout. Thus, it appears that demand for Median Maintenance Services will be increasing while revenues will remain the same or decrease in future years. Additional staffing and equipment for median maintenance was requested in the 1988-89 budget process. This request was not approved because of limited funds. Median Maintenance Services benefit all resident and property owners of the City of Carlsbad. However, it is obvious that properties that front directly upon streets that have improved and maintained medians benefit to a greater extent than those properties which front on other streets. To address the issues of stable funding and assessment of appropriate benefit, staff is recommending that the Median Landscape Maintenance Program be funded through benefit assessments levied by the 1972 Landscaping and Lighting Act District. BENEFIT ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY Street Tree Maintenance - Street trees are in the street right-of-way, generally between the curb and sidewalk and/or property line in the areas indicated in Exhibit "A". Each property receives approximately the same benefit, therefore, staff proposes a benefit formula in which each parcel is given an equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) based on the average size of a single family residential lot in the City of Carlsbad (7,500 square feet or .17 acres). Thus, each single family parcel is given an EDU of 1.0, while most other parcels are given an EDU based on the formula: Acreage = EDU .17 Using this EDU basis, the proposed annual budget of $446,500 would result in an approximate annual assessment of $34.86 per single family residence. Staff recommends that this assessment and the program funding increase be phased in over a three-year period. A three-year phase in would result in a first year assessment of $11.62 per single family residential parcel for FY 89-90. In the third year, each parcel would bear its share of the full cost of the service or $34.86. Assessments would be levied only on those parcels within the boundaries shown in Exhibit "A". Median Landscape Maintenance - This service generally benefits all parcels and residents in the city. Accordingly, all parcels should share in the cost. However, parcels which front upon streets which receive median landscape maintenance services generally receive more benefit from the landscape improvements than other parcels. It is difficult to ascertain precise benefit, however, staff believes that parcels fronting on the streets benefit at least twice as much as other parcels. Therefore, staff recommends that all parcels in the City share in the cost of median landscape maintenance using the same EDU formula proposed for Street Tree Maintenance and that those parcels which front on streets with landscaped medians be assessed twice the amount of other parcels not fronting on the median streets. Using the above formula to assess the costs of the proposed budget would result in an assessment of approximately $3.63 for single family parcels which do not front on the streets with medians. A commercial/industrial parcel of one (1) acre, fronting on Palomar Airport Road would be assessed approximately $42.84. Single family parcels which "back" on to the street are assessed the same as parcels which do not front on the street with medians, or $3.63. Staff also recommends that this assessment and program funding increase be phased in over a three-year period. A three-year phase in would result in a first year assessment of $1.21 for parcels that do not front on the street with medians and $14.28 for the example commercial/industrial one (1) acre parcel fronting on the street with a landscaped median. In the third year, each parcel would bear its share of the full cost of the service or $3.63 and $42.84 respectively. The assessment cost estimates indicated above are based on the number of parcels and actual land uses that existed in 1988-89 funding levels intended to restore the two programs to a fully functional level. Changes to the number of parcels, land uses and program funding will affect the estimated assessment amounts. Estimated assessment are displayed in Exhibit "C". LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING ACT OF 1972 Section 22500, et. seq., of the Streets and Highways Code authorizes local agencies to form Landscaping and Lighting Act (LLA) districts to construct and maintain planting; landscaping; stationary fountains and other ornamental facilities; public lighting facilities and to finance, construct and maintain recreational facilities. The LLA District finances its operation with an annual, non-advalorem, assessment levied on benefiting property or parcels. In 1982, the City Council formed a LLA District, pursuant to the above statute, for the purpose of financing the operation and maintenance of the City's street lighting system. The boundaries of the district are coterminous with the City boundary and the district is divided in to five (5) zones. Four (4) of the zones contain street lights. The fifth zone does not contain any street lights and levies no assessments. Additional services, such as street tree maintenance and median landscape maintenance may be performed and financed by the District. The addition of new services to be performed by the LLA District could be accomplished at the same time the annual street light assessments are established by the City Council at a noticed public hearing. Essentially, prior to the hearing the Council adopts a resolution describing new services to be provided and/or changes in existing services and direct the preparation of an Engineer's Report. The Engineer's Report contains a description of the new and existing services to be provided, the methods of assessing benefit, a diagram of the district and benefit zones, an estimate of costs and the net amount to be assessed for the fiscal year. The Engineer's Report is filed with the Clerk, accepted by the Council and the Council then adopts a resolution setting the public hearing. Notice is published once, then days before the hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Council may adopt a resolution confirming the diagram and annual assessments. The assessments are collected on the property tax bill. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Street Tree Maintenance and Median Landscape Maintenance service benefit specific parcels only or benefit some parcels to a greater degree than other parcels. The cost of these services is currently borne by the General Fund. Since benefit to individual parcels can be identified, the cost of these services could more appropriately be funded through assessments levied by the City's Landscaping and Lighting Act District. Staff recommends that the Council: 1. Approve, in principle, funding street tree maintenance services and median landscape maintenance services through the City's Landscaping and Lighting Act District. 2. Direct that such funding be phased in over a three- year period and, 3. Direct staff to prepare the appropriate documents to accomplish adding the new services to the LLA District for consideration by the Council during the regular public hearing for street lighting assessments. PROPOSED TREE TRIMMING BENEFIT AREA EXHIBIT "A" • A1IOUI10S tAOOO PROPOSED MEDIAN LANDSCAPE BENEFIT AREA LOCATIONS EXHIBIT "B" CN w CN O H SZ5; co wi o a CO § rH % CJ 0rJ PARCELvO CO ^3- CO«»- <• CM CO CN<«- <N vO rH rH•w- 0) CJcCOS CO CU M 4-> KH C•iH 60 CO 5S 4J CU •H CU UH M CU H(3 CU 4-1to <u CUrH >-lHI 4-1CJ C/3 M cOPM CO\o CO•w- CN -* CMV>- rH CN• rH */»- Ow MH 60C•H 4J •H U-J CU CU C 0oj apq co >, <u rH 4J rH CCO -HM CO<u ac CU C O CO•H rH -O CU CUo aIH cflPH ^3- 00 CN -3-«e- vOm ooCN•w- oo CN • -*rH </»- rHcu CJp cflCM 434J rH iH (fl 3 C•r-l Cfl(-1 4J -H 4J CP 13 CO CU CU3 M aCU T3 4J )H C Cfl T3O M CU< ^ a c rH O -H rH tfl CO •H 60 4J 01 O C CrH (H T-l -r-l O, CU 4J Cfl6 B C aCO 1 O X 0 rJW U fe BCO!-i60 O>-i CU <uoccfl C01 cfl T3 01 3•aa) u CO ao uc3 rt o OMa O•H 4J O.e CO CO <U 43 CO U 3 efl QJ r-l O 4J -H COeg ID3 »j4J O OCO 4-1 C C<fl 0) •H r-l CJ <U -rH U U-l M IH « 3ft, CO 00 C I -H 00 T3 00 C ON 3 Psl 2075 US PALMAS DRIVE mJfW JM TELEPHONE CARLSBAD, CA 92009-1519 •JnNOrM (619) 438-7753 0f Otolatrafc UTILITIES & MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENTS August 19, 1988 Property Tax Services County Administration Center Room 164 San Diego, CA 92101 Attn: Francine Bates RE: CITY OF CARLSBAD LIGHTING DISTRICT FLAT CHARGE SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS ACCOUNT NUMBER 6010-01 This letter certifies that according to the City of Carlsbad records, the total amount to be assessed for FY 88-89 is $512,266.08 involving 19,824 parcels. Sincerely, Electrical Operations Supervisor Attachment VMC:hlh c: city clerk Building Maintenance, Fleet Operations, Real Property Management, Sanitation, Solid Waste Management Street Maintenance, Street Lighting, Traffic Signal Maintenance, Water