Lodi City Council OKs special tax to annex four parcels for development

The Lodi City Council approved a special tax for four parcels they approved for annexation into the city’s community facilities district during their regular meeting Wednesday night in Carnegie Forum. Councilman Bob Johnson participated in the meeting by phone.

“All new development in Lodi is under a community facilities district fee program, so if you build a new house in Lodi, that house will be required to pay its cost of service so that our citizens aren’t making up for that impact,” City Manager Steve Schwabauer said.

The four parcels adjacent to Sacramento Street, just north of Tokay Street, make up the city’s sixth annexation, according to Public Works Director Charlie Swimley. Annexation is a requirement for all subdivisions that require a subdivision map, he said. The parcels will be subdivided into 28 single-family lots, which will generate a revenue of over $14,000 annually once the subdivision is built out. According to Swimley, the city will collect a tax of $520 annually for each singlefamily unit, which will increase by 2 percent each July 1.

Though Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce said she usually despises taxes, she felt this particular tax was a good idea.

“When people say the word ‘tax,’ it usually makes my skin crawl, but having seen what has happened to the Eastside or the older part of Lodi overtime, I see that this is probably one of the greatest taxes we can actually have . ... Instead of the neighborhood getting run down and having no money to reinvest into the amenities surrounding the property, this gives a way to make sure that all the maintenance is taken care of around the area,” she said.

“It’s why the west side of town looks as good as it does, because that facility tax pays for all of that. If we had had something like that on the Eastside years ago, maybe it wouldn’t be in the condition that it’s in because we’d have money to reinvest,” Mounce said.

During public comment, Joe Murphy, an engineer working on the subdivision project the parcels will be part of, asked when the tax would be implemented. Swimley said that the taxes would be implemented upon occupancy of the home.

“There is no fee until their is an occupancy permit, so it goes individual unit by individual unit. The fee is ultimately paid by the buyer not the developer,” Schwabauer clarified.

In other action Wednesday night, the council tabled a decision on whether they would approve an ordinance reenacting the utility discount

rate for businesses.

According to Lodi Business Development Manager Adam Brucker, Lodi Electric Utility’s reliability and its competitive electric rate structure are benefits that all customers enjoy and are especially significant to the businesses the depend on a large amount of electricity.

The city has offered a pair of temporary 12 month electric rate discounts to business customers since 2013 in effort to provide additional support to new and expanding business in the community, Brucker said.

For new businesses, the city has provided a $25 monthly flat credit for customers in the G1 rate tier, while customers in the G2 and above tiers have received a 5 percent monthly discount.

Business creating new jobs also received a discount: 2 percent for up to three new jobs, 4 percent for four to six jobs, 6 percent for seven to nine jobs, and 8 percent for more than 10 jobs.

City staff recommended that the city reenact the discount rates for five more years in an effort to continue making an investment in businesses that have chosen to locate in Lodi for the first time or are expanding to hire more people.

Mounce asked how the city ensures that the businesses receiving the discounts are keeping the newly added positions for a year. Brucker said that when customers fill out the application for the discount, they provide a list of the people they’ve hired and committed to keep for a year, but there is no audit of the list. Mounce suggested

that businesses applying for the discount be monitored on a quarterly basis through their DE9C, a listing of employees which businesses are required to file with the Employment Development Department.

Schwabauer said monitoring it quarterly would create extra work for staff and would require a fulltime employee. He requested that the city monitor it annually. Council directed staff to go back and make revisions to include monitoring requirements in the ordinance, and will take a vote on the matter at a later date.