CUSD Update

On Aug. 28 Mission Viejo homeowners who reside in Community Facilities District 87-1 (Mello-Roos District) got a one-year reprieve from a tax increase. Capo school district trustees decided with a 4-2 vote not to apply the annual 2-percent increase.

In Mission Viejo, CFD 87-1 primarily includes homes in Pacific Hills, Quail Run, Auburn Ridge, Calafia, Stone Ridge and a portion of Canyon Crest. Other homes and commercial properties are included, and residents can find out if they’re in CFD 87-1 by checking their property tax bill.

The annual 2-percent increase will be suspended for Fiscal Year 2013-2014. Trustees leading the effort said the 2-percent increase is no longer necessary to meet the bond payment or administrative fee requirements.

The reprieve for taxpayers in CFD 87-1 was initiated by Trustee Ellen Addonizio, who lives in Mission Viejo but not in CFD 87-1. She ran for office with a campaign of reform and cutting wasteful spending, and she has kept her word. The other reform-minded CUSD trustee who reliably represents taxpayers is Jim Reardon.

Trustees Addonizio, Reardon and Anna Bryson said Mission Viejo residents in the Special District have been overburdened in funding school facilities that benefit the entire district.

One factor in the outcome last week was the absence Lynn Hatton, a member of the liberal majority. Another liberal trustee, Amy Hanacek, asked for clarification of the motion before voting. Voting in favor of suspending the increase were Addonizio, Reardon, Bryson and Hanacek. Opposed were John Alpay and Gary Pritchard.

CFD 87-1 has been a contentious subject for years. Mission Viejo residents who live in the Special District demonstrated that 87-1 tax dollars have been spent in ways that violate the Formation Documents. Residents also discovered CUSD is collecting millions of dollars per year in excess of what is needed to service the 87-1 bond debt and to maintain a bond reserve fund of $3.5 million. Adding to past wrongs – inappropriate use of funds and burdening a small number of Mission Viejo homeowners to pay for facilities in other cities – the public doesn’t know how much has been collected. Despite requests for information, CUSD will not disclose the total. The bond was set to be retired in 2014 but has been extended to 2020, with a potential 2-percent tax increase each year.

CUSD homeowners in CFD 87-1 should write to CUSD (get email addresses of trustees at www.capousd.org ) and tell them to end CFD 87-1 as soon as the bond is paid off. Writers should request that all funds in the Special Reserve fund should be used for early retirement of the bond.