One of Yorba Linda's most detailed documents sets property owner assessments for landscaping, street lighting and traffic signal maintenance

One of the more detailed documents commissioned by Yorba Linda's City Council is an annual report on calculating the fees that are assessed property owners to maintain one of the city's most identifying features, the lush landscaping along roadways, especially on the east side.

This year's version runs 258 pages, though some content is boilerplate from past years. A public hearing on the proposed assessments is scheduled at a July 16 council meeting, to begin about 7 p.m.

The council will consider oral comments and written protests by residents about the fees for landscape maintenance, street lights and traffic signals for the fiscal year that began July 1.

Here are highlights from this year's report on the now-named Street Lighting and Landscape Maintenance District that began levying fees 40 years ago:

--Currently, the city has nine arterial (major street) landscaping zones, 33 local landscaping zones, a single citywide arterial lighting zone, a non-contiguous local street lighting zone and three traffic signal zones.

In all, assessments for the current fiscal year to pay for landscape maintenance, lights and signals are estimated at just under $7 million, with the city paying a bit less than $1 million, since some costs represent a “general benefit” to all residents.

The remainder will come from property owners as “special assessments” on annual property tax bills, listed after the “Lndscp & Ltg” heading.

--All of the city's 21,765 single-family residences, 1,152 multi-family units and 288 mobile homes are in one of nine arterial landscape zones, with owners assessed up to $58 this year.

Multi-family and mobile units pay 80 and 50 percent of fees, respectively, for all services.

--Some 56 percent of single-family and 51 percent of multi-family units are in one of the 33 local landscaping zones, with fees from $45 to $1,046 ($326 average and $294 median).

Five of the local landscaping zones, with 1,983 single-family homes, will require $120,144 in subsidies from the city's general fund to meet expenses, with individual zone subsidies ranging from $4,526 to $56,487.

At the July 16 session, the council could choose to cut services in the zones or call for a mail ballot of owners to raise revenues, as per policy set last year.

--All residences are in the arterial street lighting zone (1,079 lights) and one of three traffic signal zones (69 intersections), with owners paying $1.53 for lighting and $2.96, $5.23 or $6.13 for signals. The 82 percent of single-family, 57 percent of multi-family and all mobile units in the local lighting zone (4,954 lights) will pay up to $19.84.

--The report notes: “While city staff will ultimately determine which services and activities shall be eliminated or reduced to keep actual costs and expenditures for the fiscal year within the current available revenues, the revenue shortfalls are expected to increase over the years as a result of inflation.”