Making Sense of Mello Roos In Lincoln Crossing
By Kevin Watts
Making Sense of Mello Roos In Lincoln Crossing
Recently I’ve been selling homes in Lincoln Crossing as the values there are outstanding. You can get a single family home at about 2000 square feet and above beginning at about $180K. I looked at one home that was over 3200 square feet selling for just under $300,000. Great!
Kinda….
Throughout Lincoln Crossing there are railroad tracks that run north south. They are tough to avoid and one resident told me that there are anywhere from 12 to 20 trains a day that go through town but that after the first week of living in the area, she ceased to notice them.
No matter where you are in Lincoln Crossing, you can hear the whistle blowing it’s familiar tune, the cars down the tracks…it’s almost romantic in a way…for some.
If that were the only downside..fine. But there is another aspect to Lincoln Crossing that most aren’t aware of in the form of additional taxes, dues and fees that you incur when you purchase a home in this community which better explains the pricing in this little part of Placer County heaven.
Mello Roos or The Community Facilities District Tax
Most of the newer subdivisions in the Sacramento region have Mello Roos. It’s tough to avoid. Most all communities have some form of local school bond that goes to the education of our children in some form.
Mello Roos is a little different. It’s a “community facilities district” tax and it’s based on the square footage of the home in the community it’s located. In the case of Lincoln Crossing, it could add as much as $400 per month to your house payment.
That doesn’t include the HOA dues of roughly $118 or so which covers access to “Club Lincoln Crossing” and internet service that I’ve heard is pretty slow now that it’s a few years old and virtually unusable. (so I’ve heard)
Yes, unlike property taxes, or ad valorem taxes, that reset when the property transfers from one owner to another, Mello Roos taxes could actually go up no matter what the economy does.
A great home value? Yes. A great overall value? You be the judge. I think so!
What Mello Roos Covers
Mello Roos tax goes to pay for street maintenance, water infrastructure, sewage and drainage, electricity, public infrastructure, schools, parks, police and fire departments. In some cases I’ve seen mosquito abatement programs and flood protection as well. All worthwhile public services. Click here for a Wiki document on Mello Roos.
The problem is finding out what it is and then assessing for yourself if the home you’re looking to purchase is really affordable when adding the HOA dues and the Mello Roos to your payment. Most lenders don’t allow for Mello Roos when figuring out what your payment will be for a specific purchase amount. For most communities, it doesn’t come to nearly the amount of Lincoln Crossing.
I found a great site to find out what the Mello Roos is for any home in Placer County. You need the APN (assessor’s parcel number) to get access to the prior years tax bill. (Your Realtor should be able to help you find the APN. No Realtor? Call me 916-761-6632!)
Click here for the link to the site.
When you get there, you’ll see this tax inquiry box. You’ll need to click the drop down menu and get to the “previous year” tax roll.
Enter the APN into the “feeparcel #” box and push “submit”.
That will then open up another box that will list the APN that looks like this box below.
As you can see, under “Asmt”, the number is underlined meaning it’s a link. Click on the link and it will take you to a detail page about the taxes for that property.
There was a little more information than I had room for in this article so I just cut the part that was relevant.
In the box below right, you’ll see a detail list of the taxes for the prior tax year.
The first line, “Property Tax – 1% Rate” is the standard “ad valorem” taxes as provided for in Proposition 13 and figured by the most recent sale of the property.
The rest of this is bonds, Mello Roos or CFD’s – in short, more taxes that this property is subject to.
Notice the CFD’s in the second line from the bottom. There are, on this particular home, an additional $3536.10 tacked onto the taxes for the 2009 tax year.
That increases the taxes on this home not at the 1% to 1.25% of most homes but increases it to over 2% taxes for the total bill.
The add on taxes for this property add $387.21 per month to the mortgage that most lenders would not know to add. Surprise!
So while the homes in Lincoln Crossing may cost less upfront, the taxes are significantly more than most communities, if not all, in Rocklin and Roseville and significantly add to the annual cost of the home.
About the Author
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| Kevin Watts, Keller Williams
3001 Lava Ridge Ct
Roseville, CA 95661
916-761-6632
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