Landscape District renewal on June ballot

Clayton’s Landscape Maintenance District, which funds maintenance and improvements to the city’s roadway landscaping, trails and open spaces, will sunset in 2017.

Not willing to wait until the district has expired and risk getting caught with no way to pay for landscaping, the City Council will bring the issue to the voters this June as ballot Measure H.

The measure needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

“When we set up the district, we designed it so we could ‘pause’ and reevaluate in 10 years,” says Planning Commissioner Dan Richardson, who was instrumental in shaping the district in 2007.

“It’s been good,” he says. “It works. We survived the recession, and we’re surviving the drought.”

In fact, Richardson says it’s been “better than good.” “We’ve not only stayed on budget, but we’ve been able to invest almost $1 million in capital improvements over the 10 years.”

When the current Landscape Maintenance District was created in 2007, voters passed it with an overwhelming 83 percent majority – far greater than the required two-thirds approval. Mayor Howard Geller fully expects the renewal to once again pass muster with Clayton residents.

“The aesthetics and attractiveness of our picturesque city is important to the quality of our lives,” says Geller. “Walking maintained trails and roadways provides escape from the hectic pace of our everyday lives and is good for our physical and mental well-being.”

The district collects a parcel tax to fund the $1.03 million needed to maintain the city’s median and roadway landscaping, irrigation systems, trails and open spaces and fire breaks. The 2015-’16 tax was $234.84 per residential parcel and per acre (or fraction) for non-residential property. The rate will not change with the renewal. A provision for a CPI adjustment caps any increase at 3 percent.

The funds in the special district can only be used to pay for the city’s landscaping and are off-limits to any attempted diversion by the state. An 11-member Citizen’s Oversight Committee meets quarterly to monitor district expenditures and activities.

The Landscape Maintenance District does not cover the city’s parks. With the exception of the Grove, which has its own special district, the General Fund covers maintenance of the city’s parks.
With an operating budget of just a hair more than $4 million, and 52 percent of that going to the police department, the General Fund in not adequate to pay for the city’s landscaping.

Geller urges voters to pass Measure H.

“We don’t want to lose the beauty our city Maintenance Department and community members have worked so hard to create.”