The Oxnard City Council heard a presentation Friday from Anthony Miller, the city’s Special Districts Manager, recommending the council initiate proceedings to establish Landscape Maintenance District Number 43A, a temporary green‑belt lighting overlay, and to appropriate $40,000 from the general fund reserve to cover costs of a Proposition 218 property‑owner mail ballot and report preparation.

Miller told the council that “the existing lights have reached the end of their useful life,” describing widespread damage and the need to remove anchorages, foundations and wiring and install taller, vandal‑resistant, energy‑efficient light standards along the walking paths in LMD 43. The lighting replacement appears in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan as project 2407 in the 2025–2029 CIP adopted June 4, 2024.

City staff had planned to use roughly $150,000 in existing LMD 43 assessment funds (about $35,000 from fiscal year 2024–25 and $115,000 from fiscal year 2025–26). Miller said about $17,347 has already been spent on engineering and design. A bid published Aug. 28, 2025 drew six responses but yielded a low bid that pushed the total estimated cost, after recommended contingencies and engineering/service allowances, to about $719,880—far above available assessment revenues.

Because LMD 43’s current assessment level is sufficient only for routine maintenance and reserves, staff listed three funding options: advance general fund money to be repaid from a new overlay assessment; create a new overlay assessment that accumulates funds until construction can proceed; or fund the project largely from the general fund. Miller said staff does not recommend increasing the existing LMD 43 assessment and instead recommended initiating a Proposition 218 mail‑ballot process for a temporary overlay district with the same boundaries as LMD 43.

Miller told the council that staff contacted LMD 43 residents about funding options and that “residents confirmed their desire to fund the project.” He said the city expects the engineer’s report and balloting costs to be about $32,500, initially paid from the general fund but expected to be reimbursed by the overlay if property owners approve it. Bids received for the project expired Dec. 29, 2025; staff plans to resolicit bids while the engineer’s report is prepared to set the proposed assessment rate.

If the council directs staff to pursue the overlay approach, Miller recommended the council appropriate $40,000 from general fund reserves to fund the Proposition 218 proceedings and associated staff time. He said that, if the ballot succeeds and the overlay is formed with boundaries matching LMD 43, installment payments would be unnecessary from current LMD 43 and combined assessments could be lower than a previously cited estimate of $200–$300 per year. If property owners approve the overlay, staff would later return to the council to request a general‑fund advance to begin construction.

Miller closed by showing a slide comparing the LMD 43 Green Belt Paseo to a typical paseo outside a special district and invited questions from the council. The transcript records Miller’s recommendation but does not record a council vote on the appropriation or the resolution initiating proceedings.