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Council directs staff to survey voters on park maintenance funding options
Summary
After consultants presented assessment and special‑tax models, the council voted to fund a representative poll (400 interviews, ±4.9%) to test feasibility and message framing for potential park maintenance revenue measures.
City consultants presented two revenue options to address a park maintenance shortfall — a property benefit assessment and a parcel‑based special tax — and recommended a representative public opinion survey to test voter sentiment and messaging. The Moorpark City Council directed staff to proceed with the survey at its Feb. 18 meeting.
Staff described the city’s park funding history, noting prior efforts (a 1999 assessment and Measure P proposals) and that current park operating and capital needs outpace existing assessment revenue. Consultant Jeanette Hinson (SCI Consulting Group) outlined engineering assumptions for a benefit assessment — including zone‑based weighting and a calculation that produced a preliminary single‑family equivalent rate in Zone A of about $97.42 and $58.45 in Zone B — and cautioned that the assessment requires a mail‑ballot proceeding under Proposition 218.
Pollster Sarah Labatt (EMC Research) recommended a mixed‑mode, random sample survey of 400 likely voters (≈±4.9 percentage points) in English and Spanish to evaluate feasibility for either a special tax (two‑thirds voter threshold) or a benefit assessment (parcel‑weighted majority). Labatt said the survey would allow the city to test informational framing — for example, explaining possible park closures or reduced maintenance if no new revenue is available — and to present draft rates for testing.
Council members debated the cost of polling versus the risk of running a measure without data; concerns included equity of parcel weighting, senior exemptions, timelines, and the potential cost of a failed election. After discussion the council voted to direct staff to conduct the public opinion survey and return with results in May.
