With the initial phase of development in Josephine Crossing Subdivision, SILMD 301 was created in 2007 for street lighting in the subdivision. The district boundary of the light district encompasses the entire master planned area for Josephine Crossing, but only those lots in areas with street lighting are currently assessed for the lighting.  As additional phases have developed or are under development, the property owners and developers, McCall Development, desire to extend lighting to the remainder of the subdivision. State law provides that modifications to an existing lighting district that result in an increase in assessment rates by more than 3% must follow the same procedure as creating a new district. The City Council passed a Resolution of Intent at its August 26, 2013, meeting and set a public hearing for September 23rd.  Legal notice of the proposed changes was published and also mailed to all property owners in the district in accordance with State law.

The new lighting will match the style and lighting levels used in the first phase.  The fixtures, poles, and wiring will be owned and installed by Northwestern Energy.  A monthly ownership fee as established by the rate schedule approved by the Public Service Commission (PSC) is added to the power company's monthly energy and maintenance bill. The full cost billed to the City for the lighting is passed on to the property owners in the light district as an assessment on their property tax. The PSC-approved ownership charges have increased substantially since the original lighting was installed in 2007.  If this district expansion is approved, the ownership charge for the 50 original lights will continue to be billed at $29.10 per light per month.  The ownership charge for the 46 new lights being installed will be $48.18 per light per month. The total costs for new and existing lights, energy, maintenance and operation will be spread equally over all properties to be assessed in the district.  This will result in an estimated assessment increase of 27% to the existing properties included in the first phase lighting. The estimated increase for an average 3,800 square foot lot is $33 per year.  Due to the difference in time between when the new lighting will be turned on and the first tax assessments are collected, the first year assessment will be $60 higher than the existing assessment for an average lot.

The deadline for written protests to be filed with the City Clerk was Friday , September 13th.  The percentage of valid written protests received will be reported at the September 23rd Council meeting.    As provided in State Law, the City Council has the authority to approve the proposed District modifications if the legal protest does not exceed 50%.

The Council may:

• Add lights and assessed properties to the district as proposed; or
• Do not add lights or assessed area to the district (this should be accompanied by a resolution amending the district boundary to encompass only the lots currently being assessed); or
• Reduce SILMD 301 to include only the properties currently being assessed and create a new district for the additional phases of the subdivision. The assessment rate for properties in a separate new district would be approximately 66% higher than for the properties in the existing district.

There are no net costs to the City resulting from modifying the existing district.  All costs of installing, maintaining and providing energy for the lighting are paid from assessments against the property within the light district.

Staff recommends the City Council approve the resolution to modify SILMD 301 by adding lights and additional assessed properties.