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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-09-27 - AGENDA REPORTS - OSPPD BALLOT PROCEDURES (2)Agenda Item: I CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT CONSENT CALENDAR City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: Darren Hemiindez DATE: September 27, 2005 SUBJECT: OPEN SPACE & PARKLAND PRESERVATION DISTRICT BALLOTING PROCEDURES DEPARTMENT: Administrative Services RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council approve the attached balloting procedures in connection with the proposed formation of the Open Space and Parkland Preservation District and adopt the attached resolution. At its regular meeting of September 13, 2005, the City Council chose to declare its intention to form a preservation district to acquire and preserve open space and parkland. This District would help the City fund the necessary actions needed to close the existing 560 -acre gap between available parkland (240 acres) and its goal of five acres of parkland for every 1,000 residents or 800 acres. The attached Assessment Balloting Procedures provide the necessary description and direction on how to complete a ballot, how to return a ballot, how the ballots will be tabulated, how disputes will be resolved, and general information. ALTERNATIVE ACTION Other actions as determined by the City Council. Adopted:Raso. c6- Oto FISCAL IMPACT The adoption of staffs recommendation causes no additional fiscal impact to the balloting procedures to be used for the creation of the proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District. ATTACHMENTS Resolution Assessment Balloting Procedures City of Santa Clarita Proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District Page 1 of 6 Assessment Balloting Procedures City of Santa Clarita Proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District Assessment Balloting Procedures The following procedures set forth the process for the completion, return and tabulation of Assessment Ballots for the proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District (Preservation District) for the City of Santa Clarita (the City). The City Clerk's office will officiate the Assessment Balloting process for the City and may be assisted by an outside consultant. These Procedures will be kept on file in the office of the City Clerk. All references to the City Clerk in these procedures means the City Clerk or the City Clerk's designee. A. Completion of Assessment Ballots 1. Who may complete an Assessment Ballot? An Assessment Ballot may be completed by the record owner of the parcel to be assessed. As used in these Procedures, the term "owner" includes the owner's authorized representative. If the owner of the parcel is a partnership, joint tenancy, or tenancy in common, an Assessment Ballot may be completed by any of the general partners, joint tenants, or tenants in common. Only one Assessment Ballot may be completed for each parcel. 2. Proportional Assessment Ballots (Multiple -Owner Assessment Ballots) If a parcel has multiple owners, any owner may request the City Clerk to provide Proportional Assessment Ballots to all of the owners of the parcel. Each Proportional Assessment Ballot will be assigned a dollar value, which will equal the total proposed assessment against the parcel multiplied by the respective owner's interest in the parcel. If any interest in the property is held in joint tenancy, the joint tenancy interest will be divided by the number of joint tenants. Such request must be in writing, must specify the names and mailing addresses of all of the owners, must include evidence, satisfactory to the City Clerk, of each owner's proportional rights in the parcel (including percentages), and must be delivered to the City Clerk at 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita, California 91355. Upon the receipt of such a request, an "official" Proportional Assessment Ballot will be provided to each owner. The City Clerk will mail the Assessment Ballots to the listed property owners with the notice information. To ensure that the City Clerk has sufficient time to notify each owner prior to the public hearing, all requests for Proportional Assessment Ballots must be submitted to the City Clerk no later than 14 calendar days prior to the date scheduled for the public hearing on the Preservation District. City of Santa Clarita Proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District Assessment Balloting Procedures 3. Replacement Assessment Ballots Page 2 of 6 If an Assessment Ballot is lost, destroyed or never received, or if a property owner wishes to change his or her vote, the City Clerk will provide an "official" Replacement Assessment Ballot to the owner upon receipt of a request in writing. The City Clerk will send a Replacement Assessment Ballot to the property owner along with a copy of the Balloting Package if the owner has not received this information. 4. Marking and signing the Assessment Ballot To complete an Assessment Ballot, the owner of the parcel must (1) stamp or mark the appropriate box supporting or opposing the proposed Preservation District, and (2) sign, under penalty of perjury, the statement on the Assessment Ballot that the person completing the Assessment Ballot is the owner of the parcel or the owner's authorized representative. Only one box may be marked on each Assessment Ballot. Assessment Ballots must be completed in ink. 5. Only Assessment Ballots provided by the City will be accepted The City will only accept Assessment Ballots mailed or otherwise provided to owners by the City. Photocopies, faxes, and other forms of the Assessment Ballot will not be accepted. B. Return of Assessment Ballots 1. Who may return Assessment Ballots An Assessment Ballot may be returned by the owner of the parcel or by anyone authorized by the owner to return the Assessment Ballot. 2. Where to return Assessment Ballots Assessment Ballots may be mailed or delivered in person to the City Clerk's office at 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita, California 91355. Assessment Ballots may not be returned by fax. 3. When to return Assessment Ballots a. Mailed Assessment Ballots. The City Clerk must receive all mailed Assessment Ballots by 5:00 p.m. on the day scheduled for the public hearing on the proposed Preservation District. Postmarks will not be counted. b. Hand -delivered Assessment Ballots. Assessment Ballots may be delivered in person to the City Clerk at any time prior to the close of the public hearing. The City makes City of Santa Clarita Proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District Assessment Balloting Procedures Page 3 of 6 no representation as whether the public portion of the public hearing will be concluded on the date scheduled for commencement of the public hearing or continued to a later date. 4. Withdrawal of Assessment Ballots After returning an Assessment Ballot to the City, the person who signed the Assessment Ballot may withdraw the Assessment Ballot by appearing in person and providing identification acceptable to the City Clerk at 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita, California. Said property owner must sign an Assessment Ballot Withdrawal Form, provided by the City Clerk. Such request must be received by the City Clerk prior to the close of the public hearing. If any Assessment Ballot has been withdrawn, the person withdrawing the Assessment Ballot may request a Replacement Assessment Ballot. The City Clerk will retain all withdrawn Assessment Ballots and will indicate on such Assessment Ballots that they have been withdrawn. C. Tabulation of Assessment Ballots 1. Which Assessment Ballots will be counted? Only Assessment Ballots, which are completed and returned in compliance with these procedures, will be counted. Assessment Ballots will not be counted if any of the following is true: a. The City Clerk received the Assessment Ballot after the close of the public hearing on the proposed Preservation District. b. The Assessment Ballot was not signed. c. The Assessment Ballot had no boxes marked or had both boxes marked. d. The Assessment Ballot was withdrawn in accordance with these procedures. The City Clerk will keep a record of each Proportional or Replacement Assessment Ballot provided to an owner (or to the owners in the case of Proportional Assessment Ballots) and will verify that only one Assessment Ballot has been returned for the parcel. If an owner returns both the original Assessment Ballot and a Replacement Assessment Ballot, the City will count the Replacement Assessment Ballot and disregard the original Assessment Ballot. If an owner returns both a non -proportional Assessment Ballot and a Proportional Assessment Ballot, the City will count the Proportional Assessment Ballot and disregard the non -proportional Assessment Ballot. City of Santa Clarlta Proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District Assessment Balloting Procedures 2. When and where Assessment Ballots will be tabulated Page 4 of 6 The tabulation of Assessment Ballots will be performed in the City Clerk's office in the days following the day the public hearing is closed, during normal business hours. 3. How Assessment Ballots will be tabulated The Assessment Ballots will be opened after the close of the public hearing. Assessment Ballots may be counted by hand, by computer or by any other tabulating device. Assessment Ballots will be weighted according to the proportional financial obligation of the affected property; provided, however, that Proportional Assessment Ballots will be weighted in accordance with the dollar value assigned to the Assessment Ballot, even if less than all of the Proportional Assessment Ballots are returned. If one or more Proportional Assessment Ballots are returned for a parcel and an original Assessment Ballot is returned for the parcel, the original Assessment Ballot will either be disregarded (if the same owner has returned a Proportional Assessment Ballot) or treated as a Proportional Assessment Ballot (if the same owner has not returned a Proportional Assessment Ballot). 4. Who will tabulate Assessment Ballots Assessment Ballots may be tabulated by the City Clerk or by any representative authorized by the City Clerk. 5. Results of the tabulation If a weighted majority of the Assessment Ballots returned are opposed to the Preservation District (which means that a "majority protest" exists), then the Preservation District will not be established. If a majority does not exist, then the City Council may establish the Preservation District. The results of the tabulation will be announced at the City Council meeting following the completion of the tabulation and entered in the minutes of the meeting. D. Resolution of Disputes 1. Property Ownership a. In the event of a dispute regarding whether the signer of an Assessment Ballot is the owner of the parcel to which the Assessment Ballot applies, the City will make such determination from the last equalized assessment roll and any evidence of ownership submitted to the City Clerk prior to the conclusion of the public hearing. The City City of Santa Clarlta Proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District Assessment Balloting Procedures Page 5 of 6 will be under no duty to obtain or consider any other evidence as to ownership of property and the City's determination of ownership will be final and conclusive. b. In the event of a dispute regarding whether the signer of an Assessment Ballot is an authorized representative of the owner of the parcel, the City shall rely on the statement on the Assessment Ballot, signed under penalty of perjury, that the person completing the Assessment Ballot is the owner's authorized representative and any evidence submitted to the City Clerk prior to the conclusion of the public hearing. The City shall be under no duty to obtain or consider any other evidence as to whether the signer of the Assessment Ballot is an authorized representative of the owner and the City's determination shall be final and conclusive. 2. Assessment Appeals a. If a property owner disagrees with the calculation of his or her assessment, based on the Assessment Formula as shown in the Engineer's Report and approved by the City Council, then the property owner may appeal the calculation by providing written documentation explaining the reason why the assessment should be changed. The Director of Administrative Services, or his designee, will review the information and make a determination as to whether or not the assessment amount should be changed. b. For the purposes of the Assessment Ballot Tabulation Process, all changes to the assessment amounts will be made after the final Assessment Ballot tabulation, and the modifications will not affect the outcome of the Assessment Balloting Proceedings. If an appeal is granted, any modification to the assessment to a particular parcel will be made prior to the submission of assessments to the Auditor -Controller's office. Appeals will be accepted up until June 30 for inclusion on the following fiscal year's property tax roll submittal. Any appeals received after June 30 will be reviewed for modifications in the next fiscal year following. No refunds will be processed for any prior submitted assessments. E. General Information 1. The names and addresses of the owners of real property within the City were obtained from the last equalized secured property tax assessment roll of the Assessor of Los Angeles County. 2. Notices and Assessment Ballots will be mailed to all affected property owners, as shown on the last equalized secured property tax assessment roll, at least 45 days prior to the public hearing. Any Notice/Assessment Ballot packet that is returned to the City as "undeliverable" by the U.S. Postal Service will be retained by the City for the duration of the proceedings. City of Santa Clarita Proposed Open Space and Parkland Preservation District Assessment Balloting Procedures Page 6 of 6 3. All returned Assessment Ballots are public records, but the actual Assessment Ballots received will be kept secured until after the tabulation has been completed. At that time, the Assessment Ballots will be available for review by the public. A complete listing of Assessor's Parcel Numbers voted "For" and "Against" the proposed Preservation District will be available for public information.