Phillips Ranch Q&A: LLMD Community Meeting

Below is the information requested during the Phillips Ranch Q&A at the February 22 Community Meeting. Video of the full Landscaping & Lighting Maintenance Assessment District (LLMD) community meeting can be found at the bottom of this page.

Phillips Ranch Q&A

Q: Who is paying for the NBS and CivicMic involvement in this project?

A: Any work relating to the City’s development of a new LLMD for Phillips Ranch must be funded by the City’s Phillips Ranch Assessment fund, including the work performed by NBS and CivicMic.

Q: Who is funding the doorhangers residents have received?

A: The door hangers were created, printed and distributed by a community grassroots effort. All related advocacy activities are led and funded by volunteers, independent of the City.

Q: Is there a schedule set for mowing and other maintenance work?

A: Yes, the specific maintenance requirements are detailed in the City’s contract with Merchants Landscape Services, Inc. The contract can be found here.

Q: If the LLMD is approved, will the City go out to bid for a new contractor or use the same one they have now?

A: If the new assessment is approved, the City will use the current contractor as it is within the term of a three-year contract (with two one-year extension options).

Q: What oversight is there to ensure landscapers are performing to standards? Are there inspections, who is doing them and what is the schedule? What happens to the contractor if they do not perform?

A: The City has a Lead Worker working in Phillips Ranch a majority of his time to inspect and follow up on the manpower, tasks and any deficiency from the specifications. If/when a deficiency occurs, the City sends the contractor a deficiency notice, meets onsite and if it is not complied with, the contract is deducted for the amount identified in the deficiency (approximately $200 a day, per incident as per specifications).

The Contractor and staff meet biweekly for compliance inspections to review the work completed. The City’s Parks and Facility Manger meets with the contractor Branch Manager on any issues that the field staff cannot resolve on a monthly basis. The system in place works well, and we look forward to meeting the expectations of the City.

Q: How is the current 1% ad valorem property tax residents pay used and distributed?

A: Of the ad valorem property taxes paid, the City gets a certain percentage of that approximately 1% to fund essential City services, including Police, Fire, Parks, Public Works (street and sidewalk infrastructure), Engineering, Planning, Housing, Finance, Human Resources, Code Compliance, and Administration among other services. While some neighborhoods may pay more ad valorem taxes simply because homes have a higher assessed value, there is no practical way to divide up revenue in the General Fund by neighborhood, because there is no way of calculating how many City services a particular neighborhood may need or use.

Q: Is there any public oversight and disclosure of the new assessment funds required?

A: Yes. All funding provided by the Phillips Ranch assessment increase would be overseen by an independent Citizens Oversight Committee of Phillips Ranch residents with public disclosure of all spending and annual independent audits required. 100% of the funds would be used locally for the benefit of the Phillips Ranch community.