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8. Award or amend the maintenance contract with landscape maintenance company (through a contract approved by the City Manager, and City Council per the City's Purchasing Policy). 9. Coordinate with the City's Finance Department to submit the annual assessment information to the County Assessor for inclusion on the subject parcels' property tax bill (Alameda County must receive annual assessment totals prior to August 1 each year). 10. Transfer City administration costs from the Assessment District Account to the City's General Fund. 11. Transfer assessments on City-owned parcels from the General Fund to Assessment District accounts. 12. Answer residents' questions and address residents' concerns year-round, and hold neighborhood meetings upon request. Effects of Proposition 218 Proposition 218, commonly referred to as the "Right to Vote on Taxes Act," was passed by California voters in November 1996. The Proposition amends the State's Constitution by adding Articles XIII(C) and XIII(D) to do the following: • Limit the authority of local governments (including cities, counties, special districts and school districts) to impose taxes and property related assessments, fees, and charges. • Establishes procedures for implementing annual assessments which include benefit assessments, special assessments, and maintenance assessments, etc. For landscaping and lighting maintenance districts, procedures include a requirement that the City develop an engineering report which identifies the special benefits that will accrue to each individual property as a result of the assessment. Further, subject to certain exceptions, it establishes that the majority of the property owners in the assessment district must vote in favor of any proposed increase in an assessment for it to be implemented. If an assessment district was formed prior to the passage of Proposition 218 and pursuant to a petition signed by the property owner(s) of all the parcels subject to the assessment, the district is exempt from the requirement that a majority of the property owners must vote each year in favor of the assessment. Here, all the existing Lighting and Landscape Assessment Districts were formed pursuant to such a petition prior to the passage of Proposition 218. Existing assessment districts must comply with Proposition 218's requirement that only special benefits, not general benefits, may be assessed when evaluating Lighting and Landscape Maintenance Districts. The definition of a special benefit is "a particular and distinct benefit over and above general benefits conferred on real property located in the Page 3 of 8