Property Owners in Thousand Oaks to Decide Fate of Tax

It’s the $2-million question.

As mail-in assessment ballots pour in, city officials are wondering whether residents will agree to tax themselves to keep lights bright and landscaping lush in Thousand Oaks.

The matter will be settled after a public hearing Tuesday, when ballots from the city’s first-ever assessment vote are tallied. At stake are the $1.8 million in assessments property owners pay annually for landscaping and another $200,000 that helps keep street lamps lighted. The City Council enacted the assessments in 1979, when voter approval was not required.

City officials say they think most of those polled will vote yes because of the link between high property values and those wildflower-dotted hillsides and bougainvillea-covered walls.

“I think it’s probably going to pass,” predicted Mayor Mike Markey. “This community is pretty concerned about keeping our rural environment. Trees and landscaped medians add to that.”

The vote is a necessity under Proposition 218, a 1996 initiative that requires consent of a majority of property owners for any special assessments.

Since the passage of Proposition 218, most cities have convinced residents to keep landscaping assessments intact, Public Works Director Don Nelson said.

Thousand Oaks property owners have been paying part of the cost for the services since the assessments were enacted in 1979, but this is the first time they have the right to say yea or nay to the tax.

In addition to the assessments, the city’s general fund chips in $1.6 million a year for landscaping around town and $500,000 for lights.

“Tuesday will be a big day,” Finance Director Bob Biery said. “I’m still optimistic that the assessments are going to pass, but I haven’t seen any results.”

If the assessments fail, City Council members will have to choose between two unattractive options, he said.

“The council will have to decide whether to cease providing the [lighting and landscaping] service or else eliminate some other service and use those funds to backfill the void,” Biery said.

In all, about 40,000 lighting and landscaping assessment ballots were sent out to property owners April 21. By midafternoon Thursday, 17,500 had been returned. The ballots will be accepted through the end of Tuesday’s public hearing, which begins at 7 p.m. at the Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.

Depending on location, landscaping assessments in the city can run from $25 to $238 a year. Prior to Proposition 218, everyone paid $139 a year regardless of how close each property was to city-maintained landscaping.

The City Council has already agreed to use $218,000 from the general fund to lessen the financial burden on homeowners who live in the highest-cost zones. Without council intervention, a handful of those homes would have faced assessments of up to $1,700.

If a majority of residents support the fees, the City Council will enact the assessments after the public hearing, Nelson said.

A majority no vote would mean that votes would be broken down by region. Within each of 35 landscaping and six lighting zones across the city, votes would be tabulated. Where the assessment passed, the City Council would levy it; where the vote failed, the council would not, he said.

Nelson does not think the council would step in and pay for lighting and landscaping in areas where the assessment failed.

“It would be very difficult, I think, for the council to fund landscaping in an area where property owners said they did not want to be assessed and then to assess property owners in another area,” Nelson said. “That would be a real equity issue.”

Markey said he hoped the council would not have to make that tough decision.

“If it fails, we’ve got a lot of regrouping that we’ve got to do,” he said. “It would be a huge financial impact for years to come.”

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FYI

Thousand Oaks property owners who have not received assessment ballots can obtain replacements by calling the city clerk at 449-2151 by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.