Politics & Government

Buyers Of New Homes In Wildomar To Pay Tax For Police, Fire

The revenue stream will be used to pay for maintenance as well services such as police and fire.

Homebuyers who move into new developments in Wildomar can expect to pay an annual tax for services like police and fire.

During Wednesday night’s regularly scheduled Wildomar City Council meeting, the door was opened for such a plan: A development agreement for a tentative tract map was unanimously approved by council members. Under the agreement, 84 single-family homes bordered by Clinton Keith, Hidden Springs Road and Catt Road will be permitted.

The applicant on the project – CV Communities – has agreed to pay $15,000 to form a citywide community facilities district, or CFD, as part of the deal.

Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to Wildomar City Engineer Dan York, the CFD will provide a revenue stream to pay for maintenance as well services such as police and fire. The annual amount buyers of new homes in the city will pay could go as high as $590 per single-family dwelling, according to York.

No existing homeowners will be affected – the CFD only applies to new developments, York explained.

Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“To ask for new people to pay for police and fire is not unreasonable,” said Mayor Tim Walker.

Mayor Pro Tem Marsha Swanson said CFD monies prevent the city from being in the difficult position of having to ask existing property owners to pay higher taxes for services like police and fire. When new housing tracts are developed, such services have to be expanded to protect the new residents.

“That money [collected as part of the CFD] will cover services for them,” Swanson said.

On Aug. 7, the Wildomar Planning Commission agreed to recommend that city council approve the development agreement with the CFD language. The rate and method of apportionment of the tax must still be worked out by the city, York said. 

Planning Commissioner Bob Devine was present Wednesday night. In a letter he distributed to council members that expressed his “remorse” for voting to recommend the development agreement and consequently the CFD, he said he's concerned Wildomar could price itself out of the market.

But Swanson countered that cities like Murrieta, Temecula and Lake Elsinore have CFDs in place in their cities too.

Devine was also concerned that the CFD revenue could be used to fund municipal bond debt, but Swanson disagreed.

“We don’t have any bonds!” she said.

In his letter, Devine referred to a blog written by a Wildomar resident. That blog, which appeared on Lake Elsinore-Wildomar Patch, argued that CFD revenue “will be used to repay the municipal bonds that are issued to finance the developers infrastructure cost along with administrative fees.”

The blog was not presented as a news story on Patch, and the views expressed in the blog were those of the author and did not necessarily reflect those of Patch Media Corporation or any of its employees. 

In his letter, Devine also expressed anxiety about Wildomar's lack of sales tax revenue and criticized taxation on future residents as a means to "make ends meet." 

"The tax base is not going to grow by residential property taxes," he wrote. "The money is in the revenues generated by retail sales and services provided by business activities. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know but why has no one been assigned the task of soliciting businesses to Wildomar."

Wildomar officials are hopeful that added rooftops in the city, along with the recent completion of the Clinton Keith Bridge expansion project at the 15 Freeway, will attract new business to the area.

Walker said he has talked to existing business owners located at the 15 Freeway/Clinton Keith interchange who are already seeing increased traffic now that motorists can flow through the area without long delays.

"They know we're here now," Walker said.


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