Homes by High School About to Be Hit with Hefty Tax Bill

Valinda and Mirador homeowners: Be forewarned, your Mello-Roos taxes start soon.

How much will they be? Between $6,400-7,400 a year until 2042, according to school officials.

Capistrano Unified is the agency that administers the community facilities district and sells the bonds. Forty percent of the proceeds will go to the city of San Juan Capistrano for building the infrastructure supporting the new homes next to San Juan Hills High School.

Most of the rest goes to the school district, but it’s effectively already spent. That’s because the school district still owes $6 million to the previous landowner who sold the property on which San Juan Hills sits.

However, trustees heard from their bond consultant Wednesday that there may be a little money left over for school facilities after all.

The district went to sell the first of two phases of bonds in late October, said bond consultant Lori Raineri. The sale went far better than she had ever anticipated, resulting in a bond 37 percent bigger than previously estimated.

“The market performed, and our underwriter outperformed the market,” she said. Every minute drop in interest rates results in better selling power, so instead of raising $6 million, the district raised $8.2 million.

The money will allow the district to pay off two-thirds of the $6 million owed to the developer right away, Raineri said. The district was obligated to pay a little less than half this round, according to a presentation the school board heard in August.

She now estimates that the second sale of bonds should net $1.5 million above and beyond what is needed to make the developer whole.

Those proceeds would then be available for schools serving the students who live there, said Clark Hampton, deputy superintendent of business services.

The second bond sale – the transactions are triggered when the developer hits various milestones in home sales – is expected in fiscal year 2015-16, Raineri said. The community is planned for 140 tract homes and 15 custom homes.

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