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tax bill (Alameda County must receive annual assessment totals prior to August 1 <br /> each year). <br /> 10. Transfer City administration costs from the Assessment District Account to the <br /> City's General Fund. <br /> 11. Transfer assessments on City-owned parcels from the General Fund to <br /> Assessment District accounts. <br /> 12. Answer residents' questions and address residents' concerns year-round, and hold <br /> neighborhood meetings upon request. <br /> Effects of Proposition 218 <br /> Proposition 218, commonly referred to as the "Right to Vote on Taxes Act," was passed <br /> by California voters on November 1996. The Proposition amends the State's <br /> Constitution by adding Articles XIII(C) and XIII(D) to do the following: <br /> Limits the authority of local governments (including cities, counties, special <br /> districts and school districts) to impose taxes and property related assessments, <br /> fees, and charges. <br /> Establishes procedures for implementing annual assessments which includes <br /> benefit assessments, special assessments, and maintenance assessments, etc. <br /> For landscaping and lighting maintenance districts, procedures include a <br /> requirement that the City develop an engineering report which identifies the <br /> special benefits that will accrue to each individual property as a result of the <br /> assessment. Further, subject to certain exceptions, it establishes that the <br /> majority of the property owners in the assessment district must vote in favor of <br /> any proposed increase in an assessment for it to be implemented. <br /> If an assessment district was formed prior to the passage of Proposition 218 and pursuant <br /> to a petition signed by the property owner(s) of all the parcels subject to the assessment, <br /> the district is exempt from the requirement that a majority of the property owners must <br /> vote each year in favor of the assessment. Here, all the existing Lighting and Landscape <br /> Assessment Districts were formed pursuant to such a petition prior to the passage of <br /> Proposition 218. The City is currently following the process set forth in Proposition 218 to <br /> consider increasing the assessments as there have been no increases in the <br /> assessments since 1996 (whereas inflation from 1996 to 2018 has averaged over 2 <br /> percent) resulting in a shortfall between available funding and maintenance/improvement <br /> requirements. <br /> Existing assessment districts must comply with Proposition 218's requirement that only <br /> special benefits, not general benefits, may be assessed when evaluating Lighting and <br /> Landscape Maintenance Districts. The definition of a special benefit is "a particular and <br /> distinct benefit over and above general benefits conferred on real property located in the <br /> district or to the public at large." General enhancement of property value does not <br /> Page 3of7 <br />