1. The City Council shall identify all parcels which will have a special benefit conferred upon them and upon which an assessment will be imposed. The proportionate special benefit derived by each identified parcel shall be determined in relationship to the entirety of the capital cost of a public improvement or the maintenance and operation expenses of a public improvement or for the cost of the property service being provided. No assessment shall be imposed on any parcel which exceeds the reasonable cost of the proportional special benefit conferred on that parcel. Only special benefits are assessable, and the City Council must separate the general benefits from the special benefits conferred on a parcel. Parcels within a district that are owned or used by any governmental agency, the State of California, or the United States shall not be exempt from assessments unless the City Council can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that such publicly owned parcels in fact receive no special benefit.
2. All assessments must be supported by a detailed engineer’s report prepared by a registered professional engineer certified by the State of California.
3. The amount of the proposed assessment for each identified parcel shall be calculated and the record owner of each parcel shall be given written notice by mail of the proposed assessment, the total amount thereof chargeable to the entire district, the amount chargeable to the owner’s particular parcel, the duration of such payments, the reason for such assessment and the basis upon which the proposed assessment was calculated together with the date, time and location of a public hearing on the proposed assessment.
4. Each notice shall also include, in a conspicuous place thereon, a summary of the procedures applicable to the completion, return and tabulation of the ballots required including a disclosure statement that the existence of a majority protest will result in the assessment not being imposed.
5. Each such notice mailed to owners of identified parcels within the district shall contain a ballot which includes the agency’s address for receipt of any such ballot once completed by any owner receiving such notice whereby each such owner may indicate his or her name, reasonable identification or the parcel and support or opposition to the proposed assessment.
6. The City Council shall conduct a public hearing upon the proposed assessment not less than 45 days after mailing the notice of the proposed assessment to record owners of each identified parcel. At the public hearing, the agency shall consider all protests against the proposed assessment and tabulate the ballots. The City Council shall not impose an assessment if there is a majority protest. A majority protests exists if, upon the conclusion of the hearing, ballots submitted in opposition to the assessment exceed the ballots submitted in favor of the assessment. In tabulating the ballots, the ballots shall be weighted according to the proportional financial obligation of the affected property.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 173,167, Eff. 5-15-00.