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3 <br />City of Pleasanton <br />Landscape Maintenance District No. 1993-2, Bonde Ranch Engineer’s Report, Fiscal Year 2026-27 <br />administration time or the consultant fees for the Engineer’s Report. The consultant fees <br />for the Proposition 218-compliant vote cost approximately $36,000 plus staff time. <br />Water costs, which require a significant portion of the LMD budget, increased thirty <br />percent in calendar year 2024, another twelve percent in 2025, and were changed to a <br />tiered system in 2026 and are expected to continue to rise. <br />Continued cuts in maintenance to pay for the increasing fire management and <br />necessary tree pruning/removal costs will lower the level of maintenance well below the <br />maintenance standards of the district established by Ordinance 1509. To limit liability for <br />the district, staff has proceeded with a 218-compliant vote running on a parallel path <br />with this Engineer’s Report being the fallback report if the vote does not pass. In the <br />case the vote does not pass, another Proposition 218-compliant vote will need to be <br />held in the future, incurring significant consultant costs, until a sustainable assessment <br />has been agreed to by property owners. <br />City staff began the process of potentially increasing the assessments for the Bonde <br />Ranch Landscape Maintenance District in early 2022 through a Proposition 218 <br />compliant voting procedure. However, the property owners that attended the <br />neighborhood outreach meeting on February 3, 2022, or communicated to staff via <br />phone or email expressed strong opposition to increasing the assessment. Staff placed <br />the pursuit of a sustainable assessment amount on hold at that time. <br />However, to limit liability for the district, staff last year proceeded with a 218-compliant <br />vote, which is running on a parallel path, and this Engineer’s Report is the fallback <br />report if the vote does not pass. Staff conducted significant public outreach, held three <br />neighborhood meetings, sent out a survey to all property owners, provided a dedicated <br />webpage to the district, and worked to make sure the final ballot measure was reflective <br />of the input received by the property owners. In the case the vote does not pass, <br />another Proposition 218-compliant vote will need to be held in the future, incurring <br />significant consultant costs, until a sustainable assessment has been agreed to by <br />property owners. <br />For 2024-25 costs/revenues, see Figure 4 – FY 2024-25 Actual Costs and Revenues. <br />Engineer’s Report and Proposed Assessments <br />Each year for which the assessments will be approved, the City Council must direct the <br />preparation of an Engineer's Report, budgets, and proposed assessments for the <br />upcoming fiscal year. The city staff time to perform this work has been previously <br />subsidized by the city. After the Engineer's Report is completed, the City Council may <br />preliminarily approve the Engineer's Report and proposed assessments and establish <br />the date for a public hearing on the continuation of the assessments. This Report was <br />prepared pursuant to the direction of the City Council. <br />This Engineer’s Report ("Report") was prepared to establish the budget for the <br />continued maintenance, improvements, and services (“Improvements”) that would be <br />Page 175 of 617