As posted a few days ago, the City of San Leandro has proposed the formation of an assessment district to fund the construction of a levee at 13145 - 13165 Neptune Drive near the intersection of Neptune Drive and Marina Boulevard.
One of the most common questions we get asked is: Can a City create an assessment district and impose charges on properties without the people's approval? The answer is: No, property owners must cast an assessment ballot.
Important: Formation of the proposed assessment district must be approved by the affected property owners. The City can't form an assessment district without property owner approval.
CivicMic will post very detailed information about every step of the process, but today's post will provide a quick summary of the process. For starters, the City has to identify the scope of the project and prepare a construction budget. This budget will be augmented by the incidental costs related to the formation of the assessment district. The resulting budget will be used to determine the total assessment amount.
The proceedings are initiated via a Resolution by the City Council that orders the creation of a special assessment engineer's report. The engineer's report is a must review by all of the constituents that may be impacted by the assessment district. The engineer's report contains a description of the improvements, the budget, the boundaries of the District, and the method and calculation of the assessment amount proposed to be levied on each property.
Another City Council Resolution approves the engineer's report in preliminary form, orders notices and ballots are mailed to all property owners within the boundaries of the District, and sets a date and time for a public hearing. All ballots must be returned to the City Clerk before the date and time of the public hearing and held in a locked box until tabulation. The public hearing will be set for a date not less than 45 days from the time the notices and ballots were mailed.
The public will have the opportunity to speak to the City Council at the public hearing to express support or opposition to the formation of the assessment district. Also, the ballots will be tabulated in public view at the public hearing. The City Council can only approve the formation of the assessment district if the results of the tabulation are in favor (support).
Please read additional posts on this topic and use the "Share this:" buttons below each post to share with your neighbors. Please visit the City of San Leandro's Meeting Central Overview page for City Council meeting agendas, minutes, and videos: https://www.sanleandro.org/189/Meeting-Central. Looking for all the information? Please visit the main page.
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