Thanks for following up on this, and for putting pressure on them to dig more deeply into the details of Mello-Roos.
IMO, there is no reason for Mello-Roos. It’s simply a way to direct more money into the pockets of long-time land owners and developers.
The developers should have to spend their own money to build the infrastructure necessary for their developments, and the costs of this should be fully included in the price of the houses. If they can’t make the numbers work, then they’re paying too much for the land.
By keeping these costs separate from the cost of the homes, gullible buyers won’t bother to look into the *total* price they’re paying for the houses. As always, they’re keeping people in the dark by focusing on payments instead of total cost.[/quote]
Wholeheartedly agree here, CAR. Prior to 1987, Developers in SD County DID use their own money to build the infrastructure needed for their residential developments. And those costs WERE factored into the price of a new-construction house or condo.
Part of the problem was that the concept of a “master-planned community” was successfully sold by Big Development to city and county officials of past decades who fell for it hook, like and sinker.
The MPC idea appealed to our elected officials because it took the pressure off them to find land for needed libraries, parks and fire stations (which wouldn’t have been needed if they hadn’t approved the subdivision permits in the first place). These developers “donated” the land for these public buildings (tiny pieces of large parcels, which they paid a mere song for back in 19xx) :=0
However, our short-sighted elected officials permitted all this stuff whilst having dollar signs in their eyes in anticipation of endless incoming property tax revenue. Of course, a good portion of their votes for what amounted to rampant urban sprawl occurred before the state decided to intercept it, confiscate some of it and return the balance back to the counties from whence it came, leaving CA cities and counties short of funds for needed services :=0
Now, all these affected CA jurisdictions (hundreds of them) are scrambling to figure out how they’re going to properly SERVICE all these outlying residents on into the future. It’s a comedy of errors which isn’t going to end well, folks.
Hence my impending “retirement” to a much lesser-populated county or out of state.
