Salida residents pay more taxes than others in Stanislaus County. And it could get worse
A regional planning agency will consider a reorganization that places the entire town of Salida in a county service area to fund storm drain services.
County Service Area 4 will encompass 4,306 parcels, totaling 1,491 acres, under the proposal for residential and commercial property owners to pay their share for handling storm runoff.
Stanislaus County officials say more than 1,000 parcel owners in Salida don’t have to pay the storm drain assessment that’s paid by most owners in the unincorporated community. The annual assessment is $31.38 for homes.
The Local Agency Formation Commission could approve the reorganization after a public hearing Wednesday evening.
Some residents who oppose the plan charge the county should not be increasing assessments on residents during the pandemic.
“The amount of people that get service from the Salida Food Bank has doubled since the pandemic began,” said Katherine Borges, who spoke against the proposal at the Jan. 12 county Board of Supervisors meeting.
The county created County Service Area 4 in 1989 to support storm drain service for a 32-acre subdivision off Bacon Road, on the south edge of Salida.
County Service Area 10, which is much larger, was established in 1990 as a funding mechanism for storm drains and maintenance of parks and landscaping. It includes neighborhoods on the south edge of Salida, west of Highway 99, and neighborhoods in the northern portion of Salida on both sides of the freeway.
Property owners in CSAs 4 and 10 are charged annual assessments on the rationale they benefit from those services. Homes in the older part of town and central Salida are not in a county service area.
CSA 10 includes 2,874 parcels in Salida, leaving 1,388 parcels that are not assessed the storm drain charges, the county said.
County Public Works Director David Leamon said the county completed a project about 17 years ago, installing curb, gutter and pipes on Broadway Avenue and Salida Boulevard, tying the improvements in with the community storm runoff system.
“This left a large area of Salida benefiting from the storm drain services although not contributing to the ongoing maintenance costs following initial construction,” a LAFCo staff report says. The report recommends approval of the item.
County officials point out the Salida Municipal Advisory Council voted in February 2020 to recommend redrawing the boundaries of CSA 4.
Under the plan, storm drains will no longer be a service provided through CSA 10. That service area will continue to charge assessments for park and landscape maintenance. The plan would remove Landmark Business Park in east Salida from CSA 10, so storm drain services are not duplicated.
If the reorganization goes through, the storm drain assessments in CSA 4 are expected to generate $168,326 the first year.
“In my mind, it is about fairness,” Leamon said. “If your neighbor across the street is paying and you are not and you receive the same benefit, it is not fair.”
Salida residents pay more taxes than others
Borges said the majority of Salida homeowners are responsible for paying Mello Roos charges on top of property tax bills, which obligates them to pay some of the highest taxes in the county.
She noted that residents once contributed to CSA 10 for sheriff service, and that revenue source was taken away. Borges said a former public works director told her gasoline taxes paid for some storm drain services in Salida.
“If they are going to pursue this, they need to do more to educate people about it,” Borges said. She predicted the $31.38 yearly assessment will increase in the future.
If the Local Agency Formation Commission approves the item Wednesday, staff will conduct a protest process within 60 days. Protests from a majority of registered voters and property owners would stop the reorganization.
An election will be held in Salida if protests are filed by at least 25 percent of registered voters or property owners with 25 percent of assessed land value.
The Local Agency Formation Commission meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the basement meeting chambers at Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St., in Modesto.
