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The town of Danville is set to be under a new lighting and landscaping assessment district for the first time in more than two decades following a vote by property owners approving changes proposed by town officials earlier in the year.
The new district was approved by a vote of 57.1% to 42.9%, according to ballots tabulated last week, according to the town – following a final public hearing on the topic at the Town Council meeting on May 20, which marked the closure of the voting period.
The changes are estimated to bring in an additional $1.4 million in funds for the next fiscal year, which are set to be used for the maintenance of parks, street lights, landscaping and facilities throughout the town, closing an existing shortfall that peaked at $1.7 million in the current fiscal year and marked a rare deficit in the town’s otherwise healthy budget.
Prior to the vote, the LLAD had not been updated since 2003, meaning revenues remained flat as costs for services increased over the past 22 years, with general fund contributions for services increasing by 607% since then. Under the new LLAD, an escalator equivalent to the Bay Area’s consumer price index is included, with a 3% annual cap.
“Before asking property owners for an increase, the Town took every possible step to hold down expenses, including installing solar panels, retro-fitting street lights to LED, replacing landscaping that was too water intensive, and installing more sophisticated water management systems,” town officials wrote in a press release Friday. “However, recent increases from utility providers have impacted all property owners, including the Town, and outpaced those efforts.”
While the new LLAD will bring in additional revenue, it does not mean additional costs for all property owners. The adjusted rate for single-family homeowners is set to range from a reduction of $50 to an increase of $150 depending on location.
The final ballot count is set to be submitted at the Town Council’s June 3 meeting for confirmation, after which the new assessments would be submitted to Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer’s office for next year’s property tax roll.
