Folsom council closes hearing on Natoma Station maintenance assessment ballots; tabulation to continue

The Folsom City Council closed a public hearing March 25 on a proposed Natoma Station Maintenance Assessment District and postponed final action until property owner ballots are tabulated.

City staff presented the engineer's report and financial background for the proposed Natoma Station Maintenance Assessment District (the district). Janice Larson, Senior Management Analyst for Parks and Recreation, told the council the district has run a deficit because the assessment set in 1990 — $91.70 per unit — has not increased while costs have grown. Larson said staff offered four options to address the shortfall and that residents at two outreach meetings overwhelmingly favored the most comprehensive option, which would restore deferred maintenance and provide a long-term maintenance and improvement plan.

Larson said ballots were mailed to property owners on Feb. 6 and will be weighted by the special benefit each property receives. She provided specific figures: the proposed annual assessment range for a single-family home would run from $185.47 to $360.15, with an average single-family assessment of $258.45. She said the district’s estimated budget for deferred maintenance and near-term improvements is $462,006.35 and that the maintenance-and-improvement plan will set aside funds for known long-term needs, including replacement of fiberglass streetlight poles that can cost $5,000 to $12,000 each.

During public comment Sandra Lunsford, a Natoma Station resident of 28 years, urged approval so the neighborhood’s green belts, drainage areas and entry features would receive sustained maintenance. Council members asked staff technical questions about the district’s multi‑year deficits (Larson referenced a table showing annual deficits ranging from about $45,495 to $164,626), whether the annual assessment level would automatically increase each year (Larson said the CPI adjustment is a maximum, not an automatic annual increase), and how surplus funds would be treated (Larson said unused annual funds would be applied to the maintenance and improvement plan and that the engineer’s report limits collections to identified amounts).

Mayor Aquino closed the public hearing and reminded attendees that any ballots received after the hearing close would not be counted. The council formally tabled the item while the clerk’s office proceeds with ballot tabulation in the Public Works Large Conference Room at 15 Natoma Street; staff said the count would resume once tabulation is complete. No final confirmation of assessments or levying was made at the meeting.

The city instructed property owners that ballots must be received by the city clerk before the close of the hearing to be tabulated; replacement ballots were available through the consultant MBS Finance. The council said it will resume the item and announce results at a later meeting once the clerk’s office completes the tabulation.

Although the council conducted the hearing and allowed public comment, it took no enactment vote on the assessment at this meeting.