Counties and cities often send ballots to property owners to vote on financial issues concerning their property. Property owners may be asked to vote on the Sacramento County Safe Street Lighting Program and the Sacramento County Intersection Safety Lighting Program.

If the Board of Supervisors decides to proceed, the County would mail ballots to the property owner on record, which is not necessarily the person who lives there or has a business on the property (for example, rental property ballots go to the owner, not the renter). There is one vote per property and you do not need to be a registered voter to vote. Property owners will have 45 days to mail back or return ballots in person to the County Clerk.

Rancho Cordova and the unincorporated County are in two separate zones. Property owners would vote in their zone only. New rates might pass in one zone but not in the other, which could result in different service levels in the zones.

In conformance with California law, each ballot would be weighted by the amount that your property is assessed. The greater your proposed rate, the more your vote counts. For example, all single-family residential properties with street lights would pay the same rate ($24) and each vote is counted equally. However, if you are only assessed $4 for intersection safety lights, your vote would be weighted 1/6 a much as a vote representing the $24 assessment. Similarly, condominium and townhouses would likely be assessed less than a single-family residential parcel and their votes would be weighted less.

With majority approval (50%) of returned ballots, new rates would be collected on the annual County Property Tax Bills. Without approval, projected expense increases would continue to reduce lighting maintenance.

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