Council greenlights Prop 218 notice to property owners for village maintenance assessment

The Big Bear Lake City Council voted on April 8 to start the Proposition 218 notification and balloting process for a proposed village maintenance assessment district that would fund services such as spring landscaping, snow removal and other village maintenance tasks.

Staff told the council the action before them does not set a levy amount but authorizes the Prop 218 process: direct staff to mail informational packets and ballots to affected property owners, set a June 10 hearing to count ballots and resolve any majority protest, and, if there is no majority protest, return to the council to consider adoption. "The hearing on June the 10th will be conducted pursuant to Proposition 218 where there's a majority protest balloting that will be counted that night at the meeting," staff said.

Councilmembers debated whether there is empirical evidence that village businesses are suffering and asked staff to document sales‑tax and other metrics before adoption. Councilmember Melnik said the assessment is placed on the property‑tax roll and thus assessed to property owners rather than directly to tenants. Staff clarified that the city had previously used general‑fund subsidies and phased increases (a five‑year rate increase adopted in 2021), and that the current item would allow an annual inflationary adjustment to maintain services.

Council approved the staff recommendation to initiate Prop 218 proceedings by roll call (four yes, one no). Mayor Puts recused later on a different item and council explained that if a majority protest is returned at the June hearing the increases would not be adopted.

Next steps: staff will issue mailed notices and ballots to property owners, hold the June 10 public hearing and count ballots under Prop 218 rules, then return with results and any adoption action.