Laws concerning Maintenance Assessment Districts
MADs are authorized by the State of California and provided for in the "Landscape and
Lighting Act of 1972" (Part 2 of Division 15 of the California Streets and Highways Code),
applicable provisions of "Proposition 218" (Article XIIID of the California Constitution) and
provisions of the "San Diego Maintenance Assessment District Ordinance" (Division 2, Article 5,
Chapter VI beginning at Section 65.201 of the San Diego Municipal Code). Under the provisions of
these laws, the City can assess properties based on the amount of benefit each property will
receive.
Balloting
A ballot is required to form all MADs. This is not part of an Election Day ballot. Every
affected property owner receives a ballot in the mail, at the address on record with the
County Assessor, and the property owner returns the ballot by mail. City Council authorizes
going to ballot, and if a weighted majority of the ballots received by the City Clerk favor
District formation, City Council authorizes the levy and the District is formed with the
scope of services identified in the ballot. The scope of services is memorialized in the
Assessment Engineer's Report. A "weighted" vote is one where the vote of a property
owner whose assessment will be $2 counts twice as much as the vote of a property owner
whose assessment will be $1. No matter how many or few property owners vote, if over 50%
of the weighted votes received are in favor, the District can be formed.
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