TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Steve Charelian, Finance Director
Julie Bondarchuk, Financial Controller
SUBJECT:Title
Conduct Public Hearing and Consideration of a Resolution Regarding the Annual Storm Drain Service Fee for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (Finance Director Charelian).
(Estimated Time: 15 Mins.)
A) CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARING
B) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 24-0074
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a public hearing regarding the annual storm drain service fee for fiscal year (FY) 2024-2054 and adopt Resolution No. 24-0074.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The storm drain fee is estimated to generate approximately $2.1 million from the direct property assessments for Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
BACKGROUND:
The City levies an annual storm drain service fee on each parcel of real property in the City. The fee is levied to finance the costs of on-going operations and maintenance of storm drain facilities and services. The fee is based on an engineering analysis of the City’s storm drain requirements performed in 2023 by an outside engineering group. The annual fee for each property varies dependent on the impervious square footage. This is the first year that the new storm drain fees will be effective since the passage of a Proposition 218 storm drain fee increase ballot that concluded in January 2024.
Prior to Fiscal Year 2024-2025, the annual fee was fixed at $19.12 for single-family residences. This generated approximately $345,000 in revenues annually and required General Fund subsidies to maintain operations.
DISCUSSION:
The storm drain fee is collected each fiscal year via the County of Los Angeles consolidated property tax bill. The City submits such fees to the County each year by the August due date specified by the County Auditor in order to include the fee on the property tax bills issued in October.
In order to include the fee on the property tax bill, the City Council must hold a public hearing, at which time the City Council considers all objections and protests regarding the proposed levy of the fee for FY 2024-2025. Assuming there is not a majority protest, the City Council may then adopt Resolution No. 24-0074, ordering that the fee be collected for FY 2024-2025 on the County of Los Angeles tax roll.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The notice of this hearing was properly published in The Beach Reporter on June 6, 2024 and June 13, 2024.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(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 Resolution as to legal form.
ATTACHMENT:
1. Resolution No. 24-0074