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Newport Beach staff explores city‑backed loan to ease underground‑utility assessment costs
Summary
City staff outlined a potential loan program to let eligible homeowners defer underground‑utility assessment payments for two proposed Newport Heights districts covering about 600 properties and estimated at $25–30 million. Council gave staff direction and a unanimous straw vote to return with draft program guidelines in early 2026.
City staff presented options Nov. 18 for a city‑supported loan program intended to help homeowners facing potentially large assessments to pay for undergrounding local utilities.
Finance Director Jason Alaman told the City Council the two proposed Newport Heights assessment districts would together include roughly 600 properties and carry an estimated construction cost of $25 million to $30 million — about $50,000 per home if the full estimate is assessed to property owners. Alaman said assessment districts are governed by the California Streets and Highways Code and Proposition 218, and that,…
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