REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Planning and Development Department
BY: ROB HOLT, Supervising Planner
Planning and Development Department
SUBJECT
Title
Approve a Project-Specific Tax Sharing Agreement Between the City of Fresno and the County of Fresno Regarding Bullard-Maroa Reorganization No. 3 for approximately 1.43 acres of property located on the south side of West Bullard Avenue between North Maroa and North Winchester Avenues (Council District 4).
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council approve the Project-Specific Tax Sharing Agreement between the City of Fresno and the County of Fresno Regarding Bullard-Maroa No. 3 Reorganization; authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the tax sharing agreement on behalf of the City of Fresno.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council unanimously approved Annexation Application No. P21-03755, Pre-zone Application No. P21-03756, Tentative Parcel Map No. 2022-03, and related Environmental Assessment No. TPM-2022-03/P21-03755/P21-03756 on March 30, 2023. The County of Fresno and City of Fresno have not had a master Tax Sharing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) since August 29, 2020 and have not been successful in negotiating a successor agreement as of today. This Project-Specific Agreement is necessary for the applicant’s annexation application to continue through the LAFCo process and to start the process of building four housing units in the City of Fresno. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will be required to approve this agreement for the annexation application to continue through the LAFCo process. The agreement itself will be discussed in the Background section of this report starting in the fourth paragraph.
BACKGROUND
Annexation Application No. P21-03755, Pre-zone Application No. P21-03756, and Tentative Parcel Map No. 2022-03 came before the City Council on March 30, 2023, where it was heard and unanimously approved by Council.
This application was brought forward on behalf of Adriatic LLC. Tentative Parcel Map No. 2022-03 consisting of approximately 0.68 acres of property has been approved for four single-family residential lots.
The Administration has been meeting with Fresno County to develop a new Master Tax Sharing Agreement.
Various proposals have been discussed, but as of today the City and the County have not reached an agreement. In the absence of a Master Tax Sharing Agreement, the City and County are obligated by state law to negotiate separate standalone agreements on a project-by-project basis.
The attached Standalone Tax Sharing Agreement for this project uses the allocations for real property tax sharing that were part of the now expired 2003 MOU, 62 percent to the County and 38 percent to the City. As required by Fresno Municipal Code Section 15-6104, relative to revenue neutrality, annexation of the subject property into Community Facilities District (CFD) No. 18 is required and will offset Police and Fire costs associated with the annexation.
Another element of this agreement is for the City to accept conveyances from the County for road rights-of-way along West Bullard Avenue and North Winchester Avenue as described in Exhibit B within the attached Exhibit A.
Once the road rights-of-way for West Bullard Avenue and North Winchester Avenue are conveyed to the City by the County, the City will be able to provide street maintenance services for these roadways. City jurisdiction over these roadways will allow for a more streamlined and uniform development of these streets to City standards, including all planned travel lanes, bike lanes, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and roadway lighting.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This item is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because this project does not include a bid or award of a construction or service contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
Entering into this agreement is not anticipated to result in a direct impact on the General Fund. Any indirect impacts will be addressed by the mechanisms described above in the staff report.
Attachments:
Exhibit A - Project-Specific Tax Sharing Agreement