Speeding Upsets Residents
April 22, 2024
The latest Dixon City Council meeting of July 27th, 2023, had several issues on their agenda relating to taxation and fees. One of the items was the description of what came out of the goal setting session conducted by the council on Saturday, April 29th. The council is still contemplating another run at a sales tax and dissolving the existing landscape and lighting districts with the goal of making this a city-wide assessment. Finally, the council wants to force street vendors, such as pushcart operators, to get permits and business licenses to sell their wares.
The city of Dixon continues to complain that the Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance District Assessment (LLMD) does not bring in enough revenue to operate the district. This assessment is paid through your property taxes by half of the homeowners in Dixon (about 3,500 homes). This assessment was enacted in 1993 to the newly developed part of Dixon to pay for street lighting, common area landscaping and some park maintenance and operating expenses such as water.
The revenue for the assessment in 2022/23 was approximately $180,000. It is claimed that the city will have to spend an additional $225,000 from the General Fund to continue the annual maintenance of the District. The City claims that the assessment rates have not increased since 1993, which is the truth.
You might ask yourselves, “who pays for the lights in the older area of town?”, as the council has never asked this question. Much as Hall Park and Northwest Park are funded by the General Fund as a public works obligation, lights throughout the older areas of town are also funded this way. The council is now moving toward making the entire city responsible for funding these types of ongoing expenses.
In order to achieve this, the council must prepare an initiative creating this new district and obligation. All residents who are voters in Dixon will be able to say yes or no. A larger question needing consideration is at what level of service will the city maintain landscape and lighting. Landscaping is the larger issue as the Regency Parkway area and the Linear Park running from North First Street to Lincoln are good examples of how initial top-notch landscaping was allowed to deteriorate and remains in poor shape.
