LIVE OAK, CA (MPG) – The City of Live Oak found itself the focus of the 2019-2020 Sutter County Grand Jury Report (SCGJR), the investigation being called “City of Live Oak – Government, Transparency and Finances.”

In the 2020-2021 SCGJR, the jury followed up on its recommendations made in the 2019-2020 report and the actions the City of Live Oak took in response to those recommendations. Now, the City of Live Oak appears, once again, in the SCGJR on page 45, the section titled “City of Live Oak: A Crisis of Municipal Dysfunction.”

Released June 24, 2022, the SCGJR summary section states, “The City Council and the administration of the City of Live Oak have not diligently and judiciously served the citizens of Live Oak for several years, and this past year is no exception. In 2021 dysfunction has been the state of affairs in the City of Live Oak because of the failed performance of the city council in its due diligence duty to the people of that community. Our methods of investigation included: interviews with local officials and service staff, articles from local news publications, government websites, and public documents. 

The Sutter County Civil Grand Jury for 2021/2022 investigated areas of dysfunction on the city council relating to its inability to fill a vacant seat on the council. This problem was compounded by an extended period of lack of consensus to pass a budget. Additionally, the council was unable to pass authorizations to collect taxes on the Community Financial Districts (CFDs) and special assessments for the city. Beyond the findings we submit for the public record a series of recommendations made by the grand jury.”

The report goes on to provide a background on the City of Live Oak and the issues that became the focus of the SCGJR. Listing the SCGJ methodology of how it conducted its investigation into the matters, the report breaks into a discussion of three major areas of concern: “The need to fill a seat”, “The Budget Crisis” and “A gap year for collecting CFD taxes and special assessments”.

During the discussion portion intitled “A gap year for collecting CFD taxes and special assessments” the SCGJR states, “Amidst, the budget debates of 2021 no resolution calling for the collection of those CFD taxes passed due to another 2-2 deadlock on the city council. This meant the city was gazing into a deficit of eight hundred and thirty thousand dollars for the fiscal year. In the end a resolution was never passed. The deficit was covered by raiding the Live Oak municipal emergency reserve fund with about four and a half million dollars in reserves. To avoid future deadlocks that waste the valuable tax dollars of the people of Live Oak and significantly disrupt municipal operations, the city council members must perform a better job understanding one another’s positions and seek compromise. The council should always remember that they exist to serve the citizens of their fair city and not their own personal agendas.”

The SCGJR lists the following findings from its 2021-2022 investigation:

F1 – When the LO city council did not appoint a council person to fill the vacant council seat it cost the citizens of Live Oak financially. 

F2 – The City Council of Live Oak did not pass the budget in a timely fashion.

F3 – The City Council of Live Oak scheduled a budget workshop to resolve the budget deadlock, but all members of the council did not attend. 

F4 – The City Council of Live Oak did not pass the authorization to collect the annual CFDs and special assessments by September 2021, therefore these could not be added to the tax rolls.

F5 – This year’s CFD taxes could not be collected. This has cost the city over $800,000 in budget reserves. 

The SCGJR 2021-2022 lists these recommendations:

R1 – The City Council of Live Oak will pass the budget in a timely fashion. 

R2 – The City Council of Live Oak will establish budget workshop dates with sufficient time to resolve any concerns prior to voting on the budget resolution. 

R3 – All members of the city council will participate in any scheduled budget workshops to understand the proposed budget and to discuss areas of concern. 

R4 – The City Council of Live Oak will pass the authorization to collect the annual CFDs and special assessments in a timely manner, so that these levies can be added to the current year tax rolls.

The SCGJR requires responses to its finding by the City of Live Oak, pursuant to Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05. According to the report, it appears that no time frame has been set for the City of Live Oak to respond to findings F1-F6.

To view the complete 2021-2022 Sutter County Grand Jury Report, please visit www.sutter.courts.ca.gov/system/files/general/2021-22-scgj-final-report.pdf.