City of Oxnard staff seek confirmation of fiscal 2025–26 assessments for landscape maintenance districts

Special districts manager Anthony Miller of the City of Oxnard Public Works Department asked the City Council to hold a public hearing and adopt resolutions confirming diagrams and assessments for the city’s landscape maintenance districts (LMDs) for fiscal year 2025–26. Miller also recommended a one-time general fund contribution of $54,802 to LMD 49 and a $31,386 distribution of LMD 54’s reserve balance to benefit units within that district.

The proposals are part of the city’s annual LMD proceedings required under the Landscape and Lighting Act of 1972 (Streets and Highways Code §22500 et seq.), which require the council to adopt resolutions approving an engineer’s report, call a public hearing, hold the hearing, and then confirm assessments so the amounts can be placed on the property tax roll.

Miller told the council the special districts division of Public Works manages 50 assessment districts, including 36 landscape maintenance districts. He described how LMD assessments pay for maintenance of public improvements that benefit properties inside each district, and said applied assessment rates for 2025–26 were calculated after an analysis of each district’s financial status, service levels, estimated expenditures, fund balances and reserve targets. Miller said the applied assessment cannot exceed the maximum rate previously approved by property owners, adjusted only by any owner-approved inflation formula.

Staff presented the consolidated engineer’s report, which the council previously initiated on June 3, 2025. The report, Miller said, includes descriptions of improvements for each district, proposed service levels, estimated annual expenses, planned funding for less-frequent improvement projects, the method used to apportion assessments among parcels, and a map showing parcels within each district. Parcel-specific maximum and applied assessment details are included in the report and are available from the city clerk’s office and on the city’s website, Miller added.

Miller gave the fiscal breakdown staff proposed for 2025–26: real property assessments totaling $1,766,715 (rounded); interest income of $116,451 (rounded); a general benefit contribution from the general fund of $239,600 (rounded); a general fund subsidy for utility overage of $101,418 (rounded); a one-time general fund contribution to LMD 49 of $54,802 (rounded); and a one-time refund to LMD 54 property owners of $31,386 (rounded). Miller said the deadline to deliver assessment information to the Ventura County tax collector’s office is July 7, 2025.

No formal council votes or motions were recorded in the transcript excerpt provided. Miller’s presentation closed with an invitation for questions; the transcript ends at that point. The consolidated engineer’s report and parcel-level details are the documents city staff identified as the record for the proposed rates and the proposed actions.

For more information staff directed listeners to the consolidated engineer’s report available from the city clerk and the City of Oxnard website.