Mello-Roos in Santa Clarita: what it is, who charges it, and what it costs you each month

There is no single Santa Clarita Mello-Roos. Several public agencies have formed districts across the valley, and one parcel can sit inside more than one of them.

• —The City of Santa Clarita. Its bonded districts are the Valencia Town Center CFD No. 2002-1 and the Vista Canyon CFD No. 2016-1, and it runs a non-bonded district for the Cooper Street parking structure (CFD No. 2020-1). The City publishes an annual report for each on its Finance website.
• —Los Angeles County. The County Treasurer and Tax Collector administers districts including Community Facilities District No. 3 (Valencia/Newhall Area), whose improvement areas include part of the master-planned Stevenson Ranch community in the unincorporated part of the valley.
• —Local school districts. The William S. Hart Union High School District, for example, administers a number of CFDs formed to fund school facilities for newer tracts.

That is why "Valencia has Mello-Roos" is only half an answer. It depends on the tract, when it was built, and which districts were formed over it.

1. 1.Read the most recent Los Angeles County secured property tax bill for the parcel. Special taxes appear with the direct assessments, each with the levying agency's name and phone number.
2. 2.Ask the listing agent for the seller's Mello-Roos disclosure. California Civil Code §1102.6b requires a seller whose property is subject to a CFD special tax to make a good-faith effort to obtain a notice from each levying agency and deliver it to the buyer.
3. 3.Read the natural hazard and tax disclosure report ordered in escrow. Many include a special-tax section that lists each district.
4. 4.Check the preliminary title report for a recorded notice of special tax lien.
5. 5.For the maximum rate, the annual escalator and the final year, ask the levying agency for the district's Rate and Method of Apportionment.

If you are buying a newly built home, ask the builder for the special-tax disclosure before you sign. New-home sales inside a CFD come with a notice of special tax.

A tax that repays bonds generally runs until the bonds are paid off, which is often 25 to 40 years after they were issued, and the district's Rate and Method of Apportionment states the last year it can be levied. Many districts allow the tax to rise each year by a fixed percentage, commonly up to 2%. A district that funds ongoing services rather than bonds may have no end date at all.

Some districts allow an owner to prepay the obligation in a lump sum. The agency sets the procedure and the cost, so the only reliable answer comes from the agency itself.