Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Services Streetlighting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Moraga confirms street‑lighting assessment for FY2025‑26, council hears calls to expand district
Summary
Council held and closed the public hearing to levy Assessment District 1979‑1 for street lighting, confirmed the engineer's report, and approved the assessment rate; councilmembers urged study of expanding the district to include additional parcels and to add landscaping components.
The Town of Moraga held a public hearing Wednesday and confirmed the engineer's report for Assessment District 1979‑1, authorizing the levy and collection of street‑lighting assessments for fiscal year 2025‑26.
Public Works Director Sean Napier said the residential assessment rate has been held at $58 per residential unit for many years and staff recommended keeping the rate unchanged for FY2025‑26. Napier explained that about 68% of parcels within the town are currently in the district; additional parcels outside the town boundary also pay into the district to have lights managed by the town.
Council member Hillis and others urged the town to study a district amendment to add the remaining developed parcels that currently are not assessed and to consider adding a landscaping component for medians and other public corridors. Hillis noted that neighboring communities invest in landscaped medians and said some residents told her that improved landscaping could support property values and community appearance.
Staff said a future study of the lighting and landscaping district is on the town's work plan and that any expansion of the district to include parcels currently outside it would require a public vote of affected parcels. Napier said the town retains a healthy reserve in the lighting district but recent cost increases have drawn down the balance and the council retains the authority to increase the levy up to an identified maximum if it chooses.
Council moved to approve the engineer's report and ordered the levy and collection of assessments; the motion passed unanimously.
