[July 20, 2011] Empire school board to discuss Mello-Roos tax Tweet Jul 20, 2011 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Empire's school board Thursday will discuss the Mello-Roos taxing district that will cost many southwest Modesto homeowners an extra $459 in property taxes this year. The school district, where enrollment has declined dramatically the past decade, has raised taxes every year since 1987. The district's finance director and two San Francisco bonding consultants are to give presentations about what options trustees might have to lessen the burden on taxpayers. Empire's Mello-Roos tax -- also called a community facilities district tax -- is the only one of its kind in Stanislaus County because it taxes every property within the school district boundaries, not just new home communities. Since the tax started being imposed 24 years ago, Empire has sold school construction bonds and collected more than $45 million in extra property taxes. Besides spending funds on new campuses, the district has spent millions on fees and commissions charged by its bonding consultants. By the time the district's debt is paid off in 2032, property owners will have paid more than $123 million in extra taxes. That adds up to $20,000 in extra taxes for every home built since 1987. Because of declining enrollment, however, the district doesn't need all the facilities it built. It closed one of its junior high schools a couple of years ago, and if enrollments continue dropping, an elementary campus may have to close. The district's enrollment is back down to about what it was in 1987 when it started collecting extra taxes to finance new campus construction. Among those who are scheduled to speak Thursday will be Pam Wall, the district's assistant superintendent; Sohail Bengali, Stone & Youngberg's managing director for public finance; and Daniel Bort, public finance specialist for Orrick, legal counsel for the bonds. The public meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the district office, 116 N. McClure Road, Modesto. Bee staff writer J.N. Sbranti can be reached at [email protected] or (209) 578-2196. To see more of The Modesto Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.modbee.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Modesto Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]