Supervisors approve 2011-12 property tax rates

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Sept.13 to approve Fiscal Year 2011-12 property tax rates for the school districts and special districts whose voters have approved general obligation bonds.

The rates cover 18 elementary school districts including the Bonsall Union School District and the Fallbrook Elementary School District, five high school districts including the Fallbrook Union High School District, nine unified school districts, four community college districts including the Palomar Community College District, and the Majestic Pines Community Service District. The adoption of the tax rates allows those rates to be factored into the 2011-12 property tax bills the county’s property owners will receive in October.

If a school district or special district’s voters approve a general obligation bond, the district is authorized to issue up to the approved amount and the bond’s principal and interest is repaid by additional property taxes on land within that district. The total amount of authorized indebtedness does not need to be issued in a single bond offering, and districts often offer an initial series for near-term improvements while reserving part of the authorized amount for future issuances.

Because the property taxes are assessed and collected by the county, issuance of a series of bonds requires Board of Supervisors approval. The county supervisors, with the assistance of county staff, also establish the annual tax rates sufficient to support the principal and interest on the bond based on the total amount of payments needed for the upcoming year and the total assessed value in the district.

The Series 2006 Bonsall Union School District bonds will have a rate of 0.01542 percent, or $15.42 per $100,000 of assessed value. The Series 2007B BUSD bonds will have a rate of 0.00648 percent, which equates to $6.48 per $100,000 of assessed value, while the district’s Series 2007C bond tax rate of 0.0383 percent is equivalent to $3.38 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District has five outstanding issuances. The Series 2003A bonds will have a 2011-12 tax rate of 0.01798 percent, or $17.98 per $100,000 of assessed value. The Series 2003B bonds will have a rate of 0.00266 percent ($2.66 per $100,000) while the Series 2004C and 2005 bonds each have rates of 0.00185 percent or $1.85 per $100,000 of assessed value. The 2010 refinancing of FUESD bonds will be repaid through a tax rate of 0.01118 percent, or $11.18 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The Fallbrook Union High School District’s Series 1998A bonds will have a 2011-12 tax rate of 0.02634 percent, or $26.34 per $100,000 of assessed value. The Palomar Community College District’s Series 2006A bonds will have a rate of 0.00959 percent ($9.59 per $100,000) while that district’s Series 2006B bond rate of 0.00425 percent equates to $4.25 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The taxes are in addition to the countywide one percent rate.