Businesses and residents within the Village of La Jolla have voted to tax themselves via creation of a maintenance assessment district (MAD) to pay for improvements.
A MAD is a legal mechanism by which property owners can vote to assess themselves to receive enhanced maintenance, landscaping, and lighting services. These services are above and beyond the City’s baseline general services. There are currently 61 MADs throughout San Diego.
Enhance La Jolla, a new non-profit being formed, will manage the MAD for the Village. Enhance La Jolla will contract with service providers to implement the maintenance and landscape services to be provided. The City of San Diego will oversee Enhance La Jolla’s administration of the MAD.
Longtime La Jolla community planner Joe LaCava, who was retained as an advisor for the MAD, estimated that a little more than half of the approximately 1,300 parcels within the Village voted on the MAD.
“There were two items on the ballot, do you want to form the (MAD) district, and who do you want to run it,” LaCava said. “The vote was 56 percent yes, and 44 percent no for forming the district, and 85 percent for local control and Enhance La Jolla running it, versus 15 percent who wanted the city to run the new district. It was overwhelming for local control.”
LaCava added the special district only needed a simple majority to pass, instead of two-thirds approval, because it was a vote for self-taxation by those affected.
Enhance La Jolla said the new MAD will privately fund and construct projects in public spaces, ensure ongoing maintenance services, help create and maintain inviting public spaces, enhance the Village’s beauty and quality of life, leverage property owner assessments to generate supplemental funds from the City and Improves property values.
“I would like to commend the many citizens and community groups in La Jolla who came together to initiate the formation of a MAD in La Jolla,” said Council President Sherri Lightner. “Services such as increased trash pickups, sidewalk power washing, and additional landscape maintenance will all contribute to a cleaner, safer, and more attractive environment.”
The Village of La Jolla now joins over 60 other MAD’s in San Diego which lobbied to take greater control of their communities environment and experience. Due to timing, the assessment fees cannot be collected until January 2018 and the fees will be solely committed to Village (district) maintenance to include sidewalk cleaning, graffiti, weed abatement and extra trash pick-up. Of equal importance is that Enhance La Jolla, which will manage the MAD,  will be able to immediately accept private donations for potential capital projects such as new waste receptacles and benches, signage and lighting. These projects cannot be implemented until the maintenance programs begin in 2018. In 2017, Enhance La Jolla looks forwarding to partnering with other La Jolla organizations such as the Town Council, Merchants Association and Parks & Beaches to work on unified goals for beautification and cleanliness for the community. With a MAD in place, La Jolla can now ensure her positioning and future as the Jewel of San Diego.