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Council approves modest CPI increases to CFD and landscape assessment levies; staff warns of general‑fund exposure if rejected
Summary
Ceres City Council approved CPI-based adjustments for two community facilities districts and a landscape-and-lighting district for fiscal year 2025–26. Staff said denial would shift hundreds of thousands of dollars of maintenance and public‑safety costs to the general fund or reduce services.
The Ceres City Council on Aug. 11 approved a set of annual, CPI-based adjustments to assessments that fund local public services and maintenance, including Community Facilities District (CFD) levies and Landscape & Lighting District (LLD) assessments for fiscal year 2025–26.
Staff explained that both CFDs are limited by a CPI cap for annual adjustments (staff cited a 2.9% CPI adjustment for the two CFDs) and that the LLD adjustments would be 2.23% under the engineer’s report. Staff said the CFD levies fund police, fire, ambulance and park maintenance for specific districts and that General Fund alternatives would be required if council declined the increases.
Key figures staff cited during the hearing: CFD No. 1 currently budgets about $675,000; staff said the requested CPI adjustment equates to roughly $10.25 per parcel for CFD1 in 2025–26. CFD No. 2’s CPI adjustment was estimated at about $30.39 per parcel with a budget impact of roughly $134,000. Staff described the LLD budget as roughly $637,000 with about $492,000 collected from assessments and the remaining $145,000 subsidized by the general fund; the proposed 2.23% adjustment would raise assessments by between a few cents and about $8.15 per parcel depending on district.
Council members asked for clarifications about funds and prevailing-wage applicability. Staff confirmed the recreation facilities fund (account 297) would pay for the item discussed in the consent calendar and that prevailing wage requirements apply to covered field work. All three assessment items (CFD1, CFD2 and the LLD engineer’s report) passed on separate roll-call votes, each carried by a 5–0 vote.
The council approved the consent-calendar motion to adopt the resolutions; staff noted that if the council wanted to adopt a resolution without the CPI adjustment, it would need a motion to amend the text. The council did not amend the proposed adjustments and instead adopted them as recommended.
What happens next: The county will apply the approved assessment changes to the property tax rolls for FY 2025–26; staff will continue to track service levels funded by the CFDs and LLDs and recommend future adjustments as warranted.
