Three Denair neighborhoods will learn today whether their streetlights will be shut off “indefinitely.”

Residents of Brookside Park Homes, Eastgate Estates, and Shelton Estates, have mistakenly received free streetlighting for years, the county says. Three months ago, the county gave residents a choice: pay a fair share of costs, or see the streetlights turned off.

Most Denair parcels are served by the Denair Highway Lighting District, which since 1915 has assessed parcel owners for their share of the costs to provide and maintain streetlights. But those three neighborhoods, containing 33.5 acres and 126 parcels, were erroneously left out of the district – despite being served by 13 streetlights.

The error was discovered during a January audit of streetlight utility bills for the district.

Since April, parcel owners have had the chance to participate in a vote by mail election to either support or oppose joining the district. Each area’s votes will be tallied independently.

Should a majority of parcel owners in any area protest the annexation, the annexation will fail and all streetlights within that area will be turned off immediately and indefinitely.

Ballots will be opened at 1 p.m. today in Conference Room 6709, 1010 10th St., Modesto.

The annual assessment would be $33.89 per parcel, per the lighting district’s proposed budget.