ARE WE BEING SOLD DOWN THE RIVER OF NO RETURN

IS MELLO-ROOS COMING TO WILDOMAR?
At a recent planning commission meeting an item was forwarded to the city council with a recommendation for approval. A part of this item included a Development Agreement funded by a local developer that would establish a city-wide Community Facilities District (Mello-Roos) in the City of Wildomar funded by the developer.
“Citywide benefit district area” means the real property located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the city, and as said boundary may be adjusted from time to time. Taxable parcels are added as new projects requested entitlements from the City. All new projects are subjects to this CFD (Mello-Roos)
A landowner vote versus a public vote is standard in forming Mello-Roos districts it’s a typical -- and legal -- sidestep around Proposition 13, the tax-limiting law passed by the voters in 1978 that mandated all new local taxes designated for specific purposes, like schools, are subject to a public vote.
“When you buy the house, you take on the obligation of Mello-Roos,” “It's not like people in the neighborhood can get together and vote not to have Mello-Roos. It’s already in place.”
This CFD will collect a maximum fee of $580 annually to start from each new homeowner in this project in addition to the normal property tax collected.
The cities reasoning behind this CFD (Mello-Roos) is two fold.
1. Housing has been deemed to be a net loss to the city when looking at the cost of providing services against the property taxes and increased sales tax brought into the city by the new citizens.
2. The city is attempting to comply with the state mandated housing requirements for low to moderate income housing.
There are several problems with this approach to solving the City of Wildomars financial dilemma.
1.Normally a CFD has an end date of 15-20 years, the time it takes to pay off the bonds issued,  but this type of CFD is in perpetuity (forever) because it is also linked to city services such as road maintenance, trails maintenance, water and sewer up grades, etc.
2. There are no requirements on the developer to sell these homes for any set price therefore Mello-Roos bonds truly serves the developer, who benefits doubly from significant lower capital requirements and from passing on costs to consumers that are not reflected in the home price. "it makes a new home appear to be much cheaper than it really is" and "enables the buyer to qualify without Mello-Roos being factored into their Debt-to-Equity Ratio (DTI)." But unless the buyer really can afford the TOTAL housing costs, which includes the Mello-Roos, the property will be among the long list of foreclosures. Currently in the City of Wildomar a moderate income is classified as a family of 4 with an annual income of $53,601-$78,000.
3. This fee (tax) will increase at a minimum rate of 2% annually, actually the rate could be higher due to the city service portion of this fee which can increase by the Consumer Price Index for this area. There is also the possibility of a maximum increase of 10% should a number of home be in default. If you fail to pay a Mello-Roos special tax, the district may foreclose on your home and use a portion of the proceeds to collect the unpaid amounts. It is important to know that accelerated foreclosure laws apply to Mello-Roos districts, which means that a district can initiate foreclosure 150-180 days after your payment is overdue.
4. Lastly the CFD (Mello Roos) will further divide the community as Mello-Roos  financing allows new communities  to build  their own  semi-private infrastructure and to thereby isolate themselves from the rest of the community with “my money, my taxes” belief systems