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HomeMy WebLinkAbout101-Property Tax Levy Report.pdfAttachment A SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: July 6, 2011 AGENDA ITEM: DEPARTMENT: Finance & Administrative Services CITY MANAGER: Dave Anderson PREPARED BY: Mary Furey DIRECTOR: Mary Furey SUBJECT: Property Tax Levy for Debt Service Payments on the Library General Obligation Bonds RECOMMENDED ACTION The City Council adopt the attached resolution which sets the FY 2011/12 property tax levy rate for the Library General Obligation Bond at $.0088 per $100 of Assessed Valuation to provide for the 2012 debt service assessments. REPORT SUMMARY Background In March 2000, the citizens of Saratoga approved the issuance of City of Saratoga General Obligation Bonds to pay for improvements to the City’s library building. The General Obligation Bonds were issued in May of 2001, and the debt service payments began in February 2002. With the bond approval, property owners are to be assessed an additional property tax levy over thirty years to fund the debt service resulting from the bond issuance. The levy is a component of a property tax bills assessed as a percentage of property tax valuation, the same as school and Water District bonds. The County of Santa Clara requires that local jurisdictions approve and submit an annual tax levy to the County each year to determine the annual assessment rate to charge property owners in order to fund the debt service payments (principal and interest). The tax levy rate adjusts each year due to ongoing increases in property values and the annual debt service payments due on the bonds. Santa Clara County’s Auditor-Controller’s Office does not provide a secured assessed valuation report for the upcoming fiscal year until days before the tax levy rate is due to the County on August 1st, which does not leave enough time for the Council to approve the levy. Therefore, a property tax assessed value estimate from the Assessor’s most recent Secured Property Roll Growth Comparison report is used to prepare the tax rate calculation. Discussion In prior years, the City’s tax levy rate was structured to yield an amount approximately equal to the fiscal year’s debt service, however with rising property tax growth, receipts surpassed debt service payments each year, and the Debt Fund reserves now exceed debt service payment requirements. For the last two years, the property tax levy calculation was structured to provide slightly less than debt service payments to reduce this balance. However, with the potential for fluctuation in the assessment roll, next year’s levy is set to equal the bond’s debt service payments to assure adequate funding. Attachment A There are two debt service payments on the bond each year: principal and interest in August, and interest only in February. The large August payment requires year end fund balance to exceed the bond payment amount. The February interest payment is funded by property tax payments received in January. The bond principal and interest payment due this August 1st is the final payment under the original bond issuance. The City has already collected debt service assessments for this payment. The scheduled August 1st refunding of the City’s General Obligation Bond will reduce debt service assessments over the remaining twenty year term. The refunded bond’s lower total interest cost will generate a savings of approximately $2.67 million over the remaining twenty year term for Saratoga’s property taxpayers. Principal and interest rates are shown on the debt schedule attached to this report. Fiscal Year 2011/12 Calculation The Library bond’s principal and interest requirements for 2012 are shown below: Debt Service – Principal $ 455,000 Debt Service – Interest 436,729 Total Debt Service $ 891,729 The assessor’s roll as of June 30, 2011 lists the City of Saratoga’s assessed valuation under the Current Assessor’s Roll Total as of July 1, 2011 at: $10,158,728,827. The property tax levy is then subsequently determined by dividing the annual recovery amount per $100 of estimated assessed valuation: Property Tax Levy Calculation: Debt Service recovery amount $ 891,729 Divided per $100 of estimated valuation $ 101,587,288 Property Tax Levy Rate: .0088 (rounded to 4 decimals per Assessor) Therefore, it is projected that a property tax levy rate of .0088 per $100 of assessed valuation will fund $891,729 for debt service payment collections in FY 2011/12. On the property tax bill, this assessment is equivalent to $88 per $1,000,000 of assessed valuation. For historical reference, the following schedule displays the City’s adopted annual property tax levy rates since first assessed in FY 2001/02: General Obligation Bond Tax Levy Fiscal Year Rate 2001/02 0.01673 2002/03 0.01650 2003/04 0.01210 2004/05 0.01484 2005/06 0.01170 2006/07 0.00955 2007/08 0.01130 2008/09 0.01040 2009/10 0.00940 2010/11 0.00940 2011/12 0.00880 Attachment A FISCAL IMPACT The tax levy funds the annual debt service requirements of the voter approved General Obligation Bond, and tax revenues are included in the City’s operating budget, within the Library Bond Debt Service Fund. A reserve balance is maintained in the Library Bond Fund to provide sufficient funding for the debt service prior to the property tax levy remittance to the City. With the adoption of this property tax levy, the debt service payment is funded with the supplemental tax assessment, and would not impact city operations. ALTERNATIVE ACTION The Council could choose to approve an alternative property tax levy rate, or to not approve a tax levy rate. If the property tax levy is not approved, supplemental funds would not be collected by the Santa Clara County Tax Assessor for the debt service related to the Library General Obligation Bond, and the debt service payments would be funded from City reserves. FOLLOW UP ACTION Direct the City Clerk to send a certified copy of the resolution setting the property tax levy for the Library General Obligation Bond no later than August 1st to: Mu-Hua Cheng County of Santa Clara Controller-Treasurer Department 70 West Hedding Street, East Wing, 2nd Floor San Jose, CA 95110-1705 ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, this item was properly posted as a City Council agenda item and included in the packet made available on the City’s website in advance of the meeting. A copy of the agenda packet is also made available at the Saratoga Branch Library each Monday in advance of the Council meeting. ATTACHMENTS A: General Obligation Bond Debt Service Schedule B. Resolution authorizing the Tax Rate Levy for the General Obligation Bonds and report the levy rate to the Santa Clara County Tax Collector.