Benefit Zone 6 - Central Elk Grove

Benefit Zone Information

Benefit Zone 6 - Central Elk Grove, benefits from eight parks totaling 16 acres. Central Elk Grove is fully built out with no additional parks planned.

Central Elk Grove includes eight local parks. Elk Grove Park is located in Central Elk Grove but considered a District Wide facility and is accounted for in the District Wide Benefit Zone. There is less than one acre of streetscapes in this Benefit Zone.

Projects

Listed below are the projects staff anticipate completing in Fiscal Year 2023-2024. Projects are subject to change due to weather and/or unforeseen budgetary changes.

  • The basketball court at Castello Park will be resurfaced.
  • Landscape renovations to replace missing or poor performing plants at butterfly gardens in Castello, Mendoza, and Smedberg Parks.
  • Landscape renovations to replace missing or poor performing plants resulting in beautified community landscape areas as needed.
  • Irrigation controller will be replaced at Baker Park.
  • The wrought iron fence at Castello Park will be painted.
  • Park monument signs will be replaced as needed.
  • Decomposed granite walking paths will be filled and leveled at Beeman Park, Del Meyer Park, and the Fallbrook Trail.
  • Playground Engineered Wood Fiber will be added to parks where needed to maintain a safe depth.
     

Note: Due to lack of Capital Reserves in this Benefit Zone, only projects related to health and safety will be completed until sufficient funding is identified. 


Capital Improvement Projects

  • Beeman Playground Revitalization project will be managed by the Park Planning Division, and will consist of the replacement of playground equipment associated improvements to the play area and the addition of a picnic area.

Funding Challenges within Benefit Zone 6

The landscape maintenance funding in Benefit Zone 6 (Central Elk Grove) is currently funded at an unsustainable level. Relatively low assessment rates (PDF) were established in this benefit zone at its inception in 1997, and since that time the only increases have been the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment. The CPI adjustments have ranged from 0.5 - 2.5% in the past five years, and they have not kept pace with rising material and service costs.

Asset Replacement

Sustainable benefit zones collect enough funds to pay for ongoing maintenance costs, while simultaneously building a reserve fund to pay for long-term asset replacement, such as: playgrounds, picnic tables and plants. Because the assessment collected in Benefit Zone 6 cannot adequately fund both routine maintenance and reserve fund contributions, all non-essential asset replacement projects have been suspended until additional funding can be secured.

History

Funding challenges in Benefit Zone 6 are not new. In 2009, property owners were given an opportunity to approve higher assessments in order to offset landscape maintenance funding shortages. At that time, the proposed ballot measure was rejected. 

In November 2017, Cosumnes CSD conducted a survey among all property owners in  Benefit Zone 6 to determine whether they would support an assessment increase. The survey results were well below the minimum threshold needed for approval. As a result, Cosumnes CSD decided to not proceed with a Proposition 218 vote-by-mail ballot procedure.

Benefit Zone 6 Map

Benefit Zone 6 Map - Central Elk Grove Thumbnail