What is the value of Oxnard Premium?
If the grass in Oxnard’s Riverpark community parks appears greener than in parks elsewhere in the city, there’s a reason. The lawn is fertilized every three months, instead of once a year. It’s aerated three times as often. Irrigation lines are checked and repaired daily, instead of randomly.
It’s not just the lawn that gets extra care. Garbage and debris are picked up daily, not weekly. Graffiti is removed daily. There’s a dog park that closes every Thursday morning so it can be spruced up. Riverpark’s Central Park fountain bubbles every day except when there’s a high wind.
There is a difference between what you might call Oxnard Premium and Oxnard Regular. Property owners in the community pay extra for this higher level of service. They even get extra police patrols. That’s part of the deal and has been since the community was developed in 2005 and Community Facilities District No. 5 was created.
More: Competing ballot measures will determine the fate of the Riverpark special tax
These districts, also called Mello-Roos districts after the legislators who wrote the law authoring them, are hardly unique in Oxnard. The Riverpark district isn’t even unique in Oxnard, because there are two other districts that also raise current taxes to fund services. There are other similar districts, but their tax revenues are used to pay off bonds issued to fund their communities’ infrastructure, not for current services. Those taxes are eliminated once the bonds are paid off.
This fall, Riverpark residents will be asked to look at the green grass and their property tax bills and decide whether they want to continue to use premium services, settle for the regular rate, or perhaps try an uncertain middle class. They will be presented with four options: leave everything as is, eliminate the tax entirely, cap the maximum amount, or place additional restrictions on how the tax revenue can be used.
A lot is asked of voters if they want to make an informed decision.
First, you need to understand a basic fact about residential development in California: It rarely pays off. Property taxes are strictly capped by Proposition 13, and cities receive only a small portion of property tax revenue, about 12 percent. The majority goes to school districts and community colleges. Counties and special districts receive a larger share than cities.
In Oxnard’s case, property taxes make up only about a third of the budget. Much of the city’s general revenue comes from sales tax. The bottom line is that residential development does not generate enough tax revenue to pay for the additional costs of police, fire, park and street maintenance, and other services that the new homeowners and renters need.
These utility districts were, of course, designed as a way to get around the restrictions imposed by Proposition 13. They act like a property tax, but are calculated based on land value, not property value. That’s why the amount each homeowner pays is based on square footage, not the value of a specific home. When selling or reselling, buyers must be informed of the district and its costs, so each resident knows the terms of ownership from the start.
Now, thanks to a package of ballot initiatives, they are being asked to do a cost-benefit analysis of the tax. Oxnard City Manager Alex Nguyen told The Star that residents should be aware of both sides of that equation. If the tax is repealed, he said, “the quality of amenities in their quite nice neighborhood will decline.”
This is something that residents need to think about. At least for now, they can sit in a beautiful, green park and think about their options.
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