[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6561381,"mediaKeyId","3291140-d364db6bd8b7d41489b98b2cfd8f8bfd","parentId",3291140,"title","Oxnard committee advances landscape maintenance district assessments after debate over saving for 'projects' vs. maintenance","audioSeconds",1498,"startMs",307000,"endMs",1805000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3291140-d364db6bd8b7d41489b98b2cfd8f8bfd&start=307&end=1805","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3291140-d364db6bd8b7d41489b98b2cfd8f8bfd/thumbnail_307000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6561381/Oxnard-City/Ventura-County/California/Oxnard-committee-advances-landscape-maintenance-district-assessments-after-debate-over-saving-for-projects-vs-maintenance","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6561381-8807b280d71c9b93d0aad52db570c4ac/orig.mp4?Expires=1771193019&Signature=EtnMukHQX5KD8vchM4tmaC70edaBUqMkFyFcEa3uQ-TmM5FERfHVWYxPHFukeatAru~BYjUlTj6pYyy6pv4vrotQgCQFBeoE3l94Ma-xG4alZzWMopqeOct7f8b2h2w0Iz8Cn~GXjGFuEOpC3oDH-ZHitb-Cy4g7FKEDJr4icHCuxa3wdH2Y50OF73VQc4k6nvTMbwYV6iKCrnCNQlTYuVzsan1xpWLpusMwpt2e2lTcW6W1uh2-E0fVXNSTSBhF-DJX32hSPliQtU~-OOUMMUiVvjFcqjAdYLIRvrmKCqXFSvXQCX64H6VKcv0Ep4iAl64NJi~dXqn2DZrVeze4iQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of Oxnard, CA","date","2025-05-14T00:01:37Z","article","The City of Oxnard Finance and Governance Committee on May 13 voted 2-1 to recommend that the City Council start proceedings to levy assessments for the city's landscape maintenance districts for fiscal year 2025–26, approve a consolidated engineer's report and declare its intention to levy assessments, setting a public hearing for June 17, 2025.

The motion to forward the staff recommendation passed with Chair MacArthur and Committee member Rodriguez voting yes; Committee member Star voted no. Committee members debated technical and legal questions about when district costs should be treated as a multi-year project financed over installments versus regular maintenance funded from annual assessments.

Committee member Star pressed staff and legal counsel on the distinction in the Streets and Highways Code between improvements and maintenance and whether maintenance items may be included in multi-year installment funding. Director of Public Works Michael Wolfe told the committee that the code allows spreading an estimated cost \"by an assessment ... collected in installments over a period not to exceed 5 years\" when the cost \"cannot be conveniently raised from a single annual assessment,\" and he read the relevant language from the Streets and Highways Code. Legal counsel Mark Mandel told the committee the key question is whether a cost is a multiyear expense that should be smoothed over several years rather than an annual spike: \"sometimes there is work that needs to be smoothed over several years. So, rather than having a spiky rate ... this allows you to spread that cost over several years,\" he said.

Public works staff and the special districts manager described how projects are classified. Anthony Miller, special districts manager, explained that districts are treated case by case: some districts can include installment payments for capital work or larger projects, while others focus on operating maintenance. Wolfe and Miller said the city sometimes breaks larger work into smaller chunks for pay-as-you-go implementation, and that decisions depend on district revenue capacity and the practical maintenance schedule for assets such as street trees.

Committee members also flagged specific line items in the engineer's report and asked staff to clarify tables in the backup. Committee member Star pointed to table 6.2, which shows a $133,430 project listed for LMD 43 that staff confirmed was for pathway light replacement. She also noted a $45,000 item for LMD 37 that appeared in table 6.2 but not in table 6.30.1. Consultant Amanda Welker confirmed the $45,000 entry had been shown as a maintenance cost in one table and should appear in the project-released column; she said staff would correct the tables and produce an amended exhibit, and estimated the corrected balance for that reserve installment would be $12,006.67 at the end of the fiscal year.

Star said she remained uncomfortable with treating maintenance-like work as multi-year saved projects because of the risk that a property owner who pays into a reserve would not personally receive the benefit when the work is performed, and she asked staff to provide fund-balance projections showing how operating reserves and improvement reserves evolve over a five-year cycle. Miller and Wolfe agreed to meet offline and provide the requested fund-balance illustrations.

The committee voted to forward the following staff recommendations to council: (1) adopt a resolution initiating proceedings to levy assessments against real property for FY 2025–26 in connection with the City's landscape maintenance districts; (2) adopt a resolution approving a consolidated engineer's report regarding those assessments; (3) adopt a resolution declaring the intention to levy assessments and set the public hearing for June 17, 2025; (4) approve a one-time fund-balance contribution from LMD 49 to the general fund (amount as listed in the staff report); and (5) approve distribution of an LMD 54 reserve fund balance to benefit units in LMD 54 (amount as listed in the staff report).

The motion to forward staff's recommendation was moved and seconded on the record; the final vote was 2–1 (MacArthur and Rodriguez in favor; Star opposed). Star indicated she planned to vote no because she was concerned about the overall cost of running the LMD program and the policy implications of funding maintenance via multi-year assessments.

Committee members and staff agreed to follow up with corrected tables and additional financial projections before the item goes to the full City Council so elected members and the public can see projected reserve balances, operating impacts and how a planned project would interact with annual maintenance needs.

The discussion included references to the City's finance policy and the Streets and Highways Code. Staff said they would provide supplemental documentation to address the code/maintenance question and the requested five-year fund-balance scenarios.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Finance & Governance Committee Meeting - 5/13/2025","oneSentenceSummary","The City of Oxnard Finance and Governance Committee on May 13 voted 2-1 to recommend that the City Council begin proceedings to levy assessments for the city's landscape maintenance districts for fiscal year 2025–26 and set a public hearing for June 17, 2025.","taxTitle","Oxnard City, Ventura County, California","taxId",3809,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6561377,"Oxnard finance committee forwards audit contract, housing budgets and several district actions to City Council",3690,59000,3749000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3291140-d364db6bd8b7d41489b98b2cfd8f8bfd&start=59&end=3749","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3291140-d364db6bd8b7d41489b98b2cfd8f8bfd/thumbnail_59000.jpg","/articles/6561377/Oxnard-City/Ventura-County/California/Oxnard-finance-committee-forwards-audit-contract-housing-budgets-and-several-district-actions-to-City-Council","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6561377-4184b149bc6a1ff2d69e546a60555aed/orig.mp4?Expires=1771193019&Signature=ZzdzMfaMLlPhOCHoLJMqrH5F5L7o9gxhkOUvjmnEExmKLbSBEjGKqPSjmFEzDUWCuc-0uIs-YAORLyNMA6rNZLMiFwyLMbCBYSwpwEOsnV249~5Y6er1Oq6K4RdEKzLXfq6gocZoq6K5NSzNfPee4Aslb12Of5gK12qFLgNtQfQ1Lk-OueKLRAsoJRRwl4lS3euCCG4qmc8Q4SbWLrVzp319BFQXZM5Qv1l4BZPd3eSwqJpTszW6NE~Uqz~Ci2y9aMzTyeteIOHd0hFRTclDcZUd8SCBYezdjppNWRQwlt8Ud1xuK5hfilG3eB9I9u3K2ocFFJPrT6pDZ0jNNh8E3A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The City of Oxnard Finance and Governance Committee on May 13 approved and forwarded several staff recommendations to the full City Council, voting on consent minutes and multiple agenda items related to district assessments, housing budgets and a five-year audit services agreement.

Key committee votes and actions (summary):

- Approval of minutes for the April 22, 2025 Finance and Governance Committee meeting — motion carried 3–0.

- D-1: Accounting and financial risk assessment update (Finance Department) — committee voted 3–0 to forward the internal control/risk assessment update and recommend staff present the report to City Council. The item references the City of Oxnard finance policy 01/2005.

- D-2: Landscape Maintenance Districts (Public Works) — committee forwarded staff recommendations to initiate proceedings, approve a consolidated engineer's report and declare intention to levy assessments, with the public hearing set for June 17, 2025 (vote 2–1). That item is covered in depth in a separate article because it drew extended legal and policy discussion on the Streets and Highways Code and reserve accounting.

- D-3: Mandalay Beach Maintenance District (Public Works) — the committee recommended that the City Council, acting as the legislative body for the Mandalay Beach Maintenance District, hold a public hearing on June 3, 2025 to receive testimony on proposed FY 2025–26 assessments and adopt a resolution to levy special tax assessments for FY 2025–26 (motion carried 2–1). Staff noted the district was formed under the Improvement Act of 1911 and that the 60/40 split of costs (assessed district vs. City cost share) dates to a 1983 council resolution; counsel noted that Proposition 218 grandfathering rules apply to many pre-Prop 218 districts.

- D-4: Modification of Community Facilities District (CFD) No. 9 — the committee voted 2–1 to recommend that City Council approve resolutions related to a deposit and reimbursement agreement and special tax disbursement agreement, consider changes to the rate and method of apportionment, increase certain special taxes and maximum bonded indebtedness, and related actions for CFD 9 (North Shore and Mandalay Bay). Staff explained failure to approve could affect developer financing and overall capacity of the district to deliver planned improvements.

- D-5: Housing Authority budgets (Housing Department) — the committee recommended that the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority adopt operating budgets for the low-rent public housing and Housing Choice Voucher (section 8) programs for FY 2025–26 and authorize use of specified unrestricted cash to fund projected deficits. Interim Housing Director Brenda Lopez explained HUD project/account numbering (e.g., 311, 312 as HUD project numbers) and how centralized office cost-center (COCC) revenues and expenses are allocated among properties. The motion carried 3–0.

- D-6: Five-year agreement for annual financial and single audits (Finance Department) — the committee recommended approval of a five-year agreement with Macias Gini & O'Connell LLP for annual financial audits and single audits for federally funded programs. Committee members asked about the RFP outreach (45 unique views, six proposals submitted), and the RFP evaluation; City Attorney staff said proposals are not made public prior to award. The committee voted 3–0 to forward the recommended agreement.

Several items that drew notable committee questions included requests for clearer labeling of HUD project numbers in the housing budgets, assurance that consultant/contractor expense reimbursements will be supported with receipts, and requests for corrected engineer-report tables for LMDs. Staff committed to follow-up reports or corrected exhibits as needed before City Council consideration.

Below are the recorded formal actions and outcomes taken by the committee on May 13, 2025.","At its May 13 meeting the Finance and Governance Committee approved multiple staff recommendations and forwarded them to City Council, including budget approvals for the Housing Authority, authorization to begin proceedings for several district assessments and a five-year audit services agreement","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Oxnard committee advances landscape maintenance district assessments after debate over saving for 'projects' vs. maintenance

Oxnard finance committee forwards audit contract, housing budgets and several district actions to City Council