Memorandum
Date: July 7, 2020
To: The Honorable Moke Simon, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Lars Ewing, Public Services Director
Subject: Consideration of John T. Klaus Trust and Direction to Staff for Future Efforts
Executive Summary: (include fiscal and staffing impact narrative):
The County of Lake, specifically Lake County Parks and Recreation, is named as the major beneficiary of property and other assets of the John T. Klaus 1994 Trust. Sometime in the 2000s, the trustee coordinated with County staff to work out the terms of the Trust. According to the terms, the County is to use 600+ acres of land in Clearlake Oaks, located generally east and north of the Clearlake Lava rock quarry near the roundabout at Highway 20 and Highway 53, as a new public park. Also included in the estate are funds from other trust assets - which include other off-site properties, bank accounts, and a commercial property lease in the bay area - with the purpose of paying for park improvements and ongoing park maintenance costs.
Public Services staff has toured the property and is of the opinion that it is an excellent opportunity for a park, particularly given the dedicated financial resources that come with it. The trustee has provided inventory and appraisal documents that list bank accounts totaling approximately $1.5 million, appraisal values of properties owned by the trust and not yet sold amounting to approximately $650,000, and recurring annual lease income of approximately $127,000 from a property in Livermore that has been leased to an oil change business for over twenty years.
The conditions of the Trust include certain restrictions on the use of the property and the funds. First, the name of the park shall be "John T. Klaus Park". Additionally, one-third of the land on the "rear of the property" is to be reserved as a refuge for wildlife, with areas of the rest of the park to be developed for sporting and athletic activities for youth. Furtherm...
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