Las Flores Taxes to Drop by Nearly $100 a Year

Landowners in a Las Flores special taxing district will see a rare reduction in taxes, to the tune of $97 a year.

The Capistrano Unified school board voted Wednesday to give back to taxpayers a large portion of the proceeds it generated when it recently refinanced some bonds associated with the Las Flores Mello-Roos district.

Mello-Roos districts are a way to pass along infrastructure costs, such as roads and schools, to homeowners who buy in new developments. In Las Flores’ case, the money was spent on building Las Flores Elementary and Middle Schools and helped pay for Tesoro High School as well.

Because the money went where it was supposed to, the only right thing to do is to give any windfall back to the taxpayer, President John Alpay said.

Trustee Anna Bryson agreed:  Holding on to money for other purposes would be “manipulation of those funds.”

The board did decide to hold onto a smaller portion of the money. That will replace lost interest income from an account that was liquidated as part of the refinancing.

• Read about Talega residents not recouping any savings derived from a recent financing of Mello-Roos bonds.
• Read about the board considering forgoing the annual 2 percent inflation adjustment for Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo residents.