NCPFD board approves community facilities district agreement for Horse Creek Ridge

The North County Fire Protection District approved a Joint Community Facilities Agreement for the Horse Creek Ridge development.

The 5-0 NCFPD vote Oct. 22 sends the approval to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, who are expected to approve the community facilities district and its associated special tax to pay for services not funded by normal property tax revenues.

“It’s the first step in that process,” NCFPD fire chief Bill Metcalf said of the fire district’s approval.

The Horse Creek Ridge development is the residential segment of the Campus Park project approved by the Board of Supervisors in May 2011. The approved map calls for 521 single-family residences and 230 condominium dwelling units.

Seven percent of the one percent base property tax assessed on the land is provided to the fire district. That revenue will not be sufficient to provide ongoing fire protection and emergency medical services to the new development (a fire mitigation fee, which is currently 47 cents per square foot for residential development, must be used for capital projects or to purchase firefighting equipment or supplies which will serve new developments and cannot be used for operational expenses).

The County of San Diego and Horse Creek Ridge developer D.R. Horton (who purchased the residential component of Campus Park from Passarelle, LLC) have been working to create a community facilities district which will include a special tax to pay for services not funded by the regular property tax. The revenue will be distributed through a Joint Community Facilities Agreement which stipulates the collection process as well as the distribution process.

The community facilities district will allow for the collection of three special taxes: one for county services, one for flood control services (although the county supervisors also serve as the board of the San Diego County Flood Control District and the flood control district is administered by the county’s Department of Public Works, it is a separate legal district), and one for fire and emergency medical services. The initial tax for county services will be $655 per single-family residential unit, $496 per multi-family residential unit, and $5,256 per acre of undeveloped property. The base tax to fund flood control needs will be $267 per single-family unit, $203 per multi-family unit, and $2,144 per undeveloped acre.

There will be no levy for fire protection and emergency medical services on the undeveloped property. Each single-family unit will initially be assessed $201 for the fire and emergency medical services tax while each multi-family dwelling unit will be assessed $153.

“We believe that it represents a fair distribution for the impacts the community will have on emergency services,” Metcalf said.

The initial tax amount is for fiscal year 2014-15. The taxes will be increased by two percent annually to cover the increased cost of services. Based on the 2014-15 amount, full build-out would generate an additional $139,911 for the fire district.

The Joint Community Facilities Agreement is expected to be heard by the Board of Supervisors in January.