Oakdale council approves landscape-and-lighting assessments for multiple neighborhoods

Oakdale City Council on Aug. 4 approved annual assessments for four landscape and lighting maintenance districts — Bridle Ridge, The Vineyards, Virgil Hill and a bundle of smaller neighborhoods (Live Oak, Rhineland Court, Sunset Meadows, Sterling Hills and Murdock Estates) — to fund street lighting, tree pruning and other common-area maintenance.

City staff said the assessments and engineer—s reports set rates and use reserves where needed; the council voted to adopt the resolutions so the assessments can be submitted to the county assessor by the Aug. 15 filing deadline.

The report and accompanying presentations showed different fiscal situations across districts: Bridle Ridge faced a proposed increase of $17.54 per parcel for the 2025-26 fiscal year; The Vineyards was left unchanged at the current rate ($600.62 proposed, no increase); Virgil Hill was proposed to rise by $19.62 and is projected to end the year with a roughly $12,000 shortfall even after the increase; the Live Oak/Rhineland Court/Sunset Meadows/Sterling Hills/Murdock Estates group showed mostly small or no increases but included single-digit monthly changes for some parcels.

The measures are intended to have parcels within each district pay for their own landscaping and lighting costs rather than shifting those expenses to the city—s general fund. "This is not a profit-making measure," a city staff presenter said during the meeting, adding the Aug. 15 deadline for filing with the county assessor leaves little time for…