TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Libby Bretthauer, Acting Finance Director
Julie Bondarchuk, Financial Controller
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving an Agreement with Harris & Associates for Direct Assessment Services with a Maximum Compensation of $40,000 Annually for Five Years (Budgeted) (Acting Finance Director Bretthauer).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 25-0047
Body
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 25-0047 approving a five-year agreement with Harris & Associates for a maximum of $40,000 annually to administer the City’s direct assessments.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Sufficient funds are available in the FY 2025-2026 budget.
BACKGROUND:
The City places direct assessments on parcels annually to fund programs related to Utility Underground Assessment Districts (UUADs), Street Lighting and Landscaping, and Stormwater. The process to place assessments onto the tax roll takes approximately three months, starting in July and ending in September.
Once assessments are submitted to Los Angeles County (“the County”), staff is required to continually check the County website to correct any exceptions. Exceptions can include parcels that have split, combined, or have been re-numbered. There can also be changes in the use code where a parcel changes from a single-family residence, multi-family residence, various types of commercial use, or vacant land. All of these changes may potentially trigger a change in the assessment depending on the type of change. Staff must research each exception and submit revisions to the County. The process is labor intensive and takes a significant amount of staff time to complete.
DISCUSSION:
The complexity and time spent on the administration of direct assessments have increased over the years. Reporting requirements for bond disclosures along with the increased number of assessments has placed an increased burden on staff to process these assessments in a timely manner. The consequences of not placing the assessments on the tax roll by a specified deadline include not being able to assess the parcel for the tax year and consequently, billing these assessments directly through the City. Billing these assessments directly through the City adds an additional process, which must be tracked manually for payment and delinquencies. This tracking is a requirement of the bond issuance for UUADs and adding an additional process convolutes the tracking and creates room for error.
The City will have six assessments in Fiscal Year 2025-2026: UUAD Refunding 2018, UUAD District 19-04, UUAD District 19-12, UUAD District 19-14, Storm Drain, and Street Lighting and Landscaping.
More importantly, placing direct assessments on the tax roll is not a task specialized in by City staff. By contracting with an outside agency that specializes in direct assessments, the City can be assured that assessments and delinquencies will be handled appropriately and in a timely manner. Moreover, a specialized firm is more likely to be updated on changes in assessment procedures from the County as well as any compliance requirements associated with the various assessments.
Professional services such as those provided under this agreement are exempt from bidding under Manhattan Beach Municipal Code section 2.36.130.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has approved the agreement as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 25-0047
2. Agreement - Harris & Associates