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Supervisors approve dissolutions of three small drainage and lighting zones after voters reject tax increases
Summary
The board voted to dissolve Cavalry Meadows, Sundown Estates and Barnett Business Park zones of benefit after local ballots rejected proposed assessment increases. DOT said the zones’ tiny annual revenues cannot cover maintenance and administration; the board directed staff to explore alternatives for remaining balances, including returning funds to owners if feasible.
El Dorado County supervisors on Nov. 18 approved staff recommendations to dissolve three small zones of benefit that were created decades ago to pay for localized drainage or lighting services.
Elizabeth Hess of the Department of Transportation told the board Cavalry Meadows (formed 1991) has only 11 parcels and that a ballot measure to raise the assessment from roughly $110 to $350 per parcel failed. "Measure L...100% of the ballots cast were not in favor of the increased special tax," Hess said. DOT said the zone brings in a little over $1,000 a year and estimated roughly $300 might remain when the zone is removed from property tax bills.
Sundown Estates was similar: 10 parcels, roughly $840 in annual revenue after administrative charges, and a majority of voters opposed the proposed increase (Measure M). For Barnett Business Park (60 parcels), DOT said the zone had long subsidized lighting and that the road fund reimbursed earlier deficits; staff estimated about $37,000 could remain in that account when the zone is dissolved.
Public commenters and several supervisors warned that dissolving zones could shift maintenance burdens to property owners, create downstream risks if drainage ditches fill with vegetation, and set precedents that might affect future mitigation for tentative maps. "I'm not sure that we should dissolve this, but to find some way to provide the necessary maintenance or else I believe it's just creating a risk," said commenter Chris Payne.
County staff and counsel said options exist: record the dissolution so future owners receive notice, explore transfers of remaining balances to HOAs where they exist with use-restrictions, or hold funds temporarily rather than immediately transferring them to the general fund. For Barnett Business Park the board directed staff to explore alternatives for the remaining funds rather than immediately transferring them; the board approved items 1–3 and directed staff to return with options on disposition of remaining balances. A supervisor recused themself from the Barnett vote because of a possible family connection.
The board recorded each dissolution as following the county’s zone-of-benefit procedures, including ballot measures and the state board of equalization process to remove assessment lines from property tax bills.
