Then 2005 home owner still has to pay 25 more years, same as 2012 home owner, till 2037?
if 2005 home owner wants to pay off mello roos in 2013, will the pay-off amount count his already paid 8 years mello roos?[/quote]
OCRenter makes some great points.
You need to see when the particular CFD in question is slated to be paid off. I’ve spoken to some people in that area that were just told that they had to pay Mello Roos for 30 years. But what they weren’t told is that it doesn’t start until the development is finished! Every CFD is different so research the CFD and check out the details.
Yes, the pay off quote will account for payments already made. Both entities that I dealt with were pretty straight forward about everything. Once you pay the fee to get the payoff the communications are pretty good.
On one of them that I prepaid (CFD #2 for Santaluz) it was kind of a pain because I had made the full payment to pay it off that I was quoted. But then after paying it off and them cashing the check they told me that there was some confusion as it was in between the cycles of the tax payments.
Something to do with the City of San Diego coordinating things with the County. Ultimately even after paying off the CFD #2 I had to send in a separate check for about $2,000 that they ended up sending me a refund check for a few weeks later. A bit confusing but ultimately it ended up working out. (I dealt with Chuck Wilcox with the City of San Diego who was really great with communications).
You may want to wait until the full cycle ends to prepay the Mello Roos taxes. For example, on my CFD #4 for PUSD I paid off the total they gave me but they told me it didn’t include this last cycle that just ended.
To make things easier it may just be worth it to prepay it off after the cycle completes and starts over.
On the CFD #2 it immediately showed $0 on my property tax bill online. But on my CFD #4 it is still showing what I was being charged but they say it will drop off on the next cycle to $0.
I don’t regret paying all CFD’s off completely. I know we will keep the house and won’t sell it. Even when the kids are out of the house we plan to keep the house and will probably rent it out. Under our circumstances, pre-paying off the CFD was a no brainer and a solid investment.
As well, besides the 2% annual increases, it looked like they can extend out these CFD payments beyond the scheduled termination date. I liked the fact once you paid it off it forever releases you of ALL CFD obligations.
Also, for the CFD #2, I got a formal stamped certificate from the City of San Diego canceling the obligation. The name at the top says, “Notice of Cancellation of Special Tax Lien”. Signed by the City Clerk.
For the CFD #4 , I didn’t get a similar certificate. They said they don’t issue them. But in emails with Kari Zipp from the PUSD Planning Department, she did confirm that my Mello Roos obligation forever ended with my payment. She also referred me occasionally for questions she didn’t know the answer to Justin at the Dolinka Group who was helpful.
Just make sure for the CFD #4 you verify ahead of time when you make the payment that it will cancel out the current tax year. When I asked them why it wasn’t showing $0.00 on my property tax bill online they told me, “It is the policy of the PUSD not to remove any Special Taxes that are currently on the Property Tax Roll (i.e. FY 2012/2013) and was calculated based on this assumption.
The Mello-Roos will no longer appear on the FY 2013/2014 (mailed in October 2013) and any subsequent property tax bill”.
