WCSD Notice of Public Hearing - August 3, 2017

[Cheapskate]

Remember the big selling point before the March election? -- that forming a CSD would simply bring local control to money already sitting in San Bernardino, money being managed by faceless bureaucrats in different departments.  It's not a new layer of government; things will magically improve because a local board who understands the community will be managing the money.

Now we know that The Board can levy taxes on parcels within the CSD (ahem, my bad, they're "fees" according to Prop 26 enacted in 2010, no direct vote needed, no 2/3 majority required).  The Resolution says they get that taxing power from LAFCO.  I suppose LAFCO gets it from Sacramento.

I wonder if LAFCO allows the CSD Board to levy "fees" for new streetlights?  Or park improvements? Hmm...

Not that they would; board members have to face the voters.  But in future Election Days it's possible the CSD will be doing something the County never did: asking us to tax ourselves further for this worthy improvement, and this other one too.

[Wrightwood]

The SBC tax bill that Wrightwood posted doesn't add up to me. The $1813 tax levy and the other charges do not add up to the $1937 total taxes owed. Perhaps a page is missing?  Whatever, it doesn't matter because the focus here is the dump fee.

It's the only page to this tax bill (other than the pay stubs)
You have to add the $1813 plus the other items below it in box 13 to come up with the $1937

[tcaarabians]

Bob C.. I haven't seen any figures to be able to judge if the the dump cards are a money maker. Have you?

Wrightwood.. I guess I shouldn't try to add when I'm trying to fall asleep. thx.

Cheapskate.. I'm pretty sure the tax vs fee started back in the 90s with the Gann Initiative which followed the Jarvis Prop 13 initiative. Counties and municipalities got very creative with their definition of fees after that and began to levy 'fees' for a lot of public services that were previously paid for out of property taxes before Prop 13.  I don't recall the 2010 Prop 26.  They were both passed by a statewide vote. That's the people speaking .. not the bureaucrats.

I'm not sure that the WWCSD even has the power to put a tax increase on the ballot. It's a good question.  cheryl o7o 

[tcaarabians]

Oh, fiddlesticks.. I made a mistake in my previous regarding the Gann Initiative.  Prop 13 was passed in June 1978.  The Gann Initiative was passed shortly thereafter.. in 79 or 80.

I just opened my MP to see the front page story about Al Morrissette being appointed as the new WWCSD General Manager. In my opinion the WWCSD Board made an excellent choice.  The headline in the story was accurate but certainly didn't do Al justice.  I have exchanged numerous emails with him and have sat down face-to-face to discuss issues in his position as a Board Member of the PPHCSD.  I have always found him to be open to all opinions and a person that does his research.  He was also the top, vote-getter here in the last election. That says something about what this community thinks of Al.  I reserve my position to disagree with him about some of his columns in the MP. Hah!
cheryl o7o

[Cheapskate]

Quote from tcarabians: "I'm not sure that the WWCSD even has the power to put a tax increase on the ballot. It's a good question."

I'd bet money on "yes", I now suspect it was the whole point of the CSD.  Improvements like new parks cost money; such upgrades would be near town in SB county; but many of the users would be from the LA side. ALL beneficiaries should pay (Wes Zuber recently expressed this opinion); the only way is to create a new entity that reaches across both counties.  Hence the CSD. (Ironically...intentionally......the entity that put up the $20K to get the CSD issue on the ballot was called One Town, I think)

Nothing wrong with that per se...ultimately nothing happens that we don't get to vote on.

But I never appreciated the half-truths about "oh, it just gives us local control".  I could smell a bigger agenda, until now I didn't know what it was.

[Bob C]

Bob C.. I haven't seen any figures to be able to judge if the the dump cards are a money maker. Have you?

Of course it's a money maker for the CSD. If it wasn't, why would they want to take control of it? Why do something for no benefit? No, I don't know the actual dollar amount. It does depend on how many people actually use the dump card. But, according to their budget, the "solid waste fee" is around $224,000. And that's only the current San Bernardino County residents.

https://wrightwoodcsd.org/budget/


This isn't knocking the CSD.. the county started this "fee". If anyone is going to make money on it, it might as well be the CSD. After all, the county was pocketing money, too.

You betcha, this is about money... that is a serious amount of cash. No, I dont like being forced to pay it as a SB County resident. In my eyes, a mandatory "fee" is a tax, because I have to pay it whether or not I get extra benefit from it or not.

Let's hope the CSD does the right thing. It should either be mandatory for everyone, or optional for everyone.

[Wes Zuber - WWCSD]

Hello everyone, Started a new account with a user name that was a bit more CSD centric, instead of it being Ultimate Internet. I didn't even really notice since I had that user name saved in my browser. I will log in with different user names depending on the topic being posted.

Regards,


--Wes

[Wes Zuber - WWCSD]

I wonder if LAFCO allows the CSD Board to levy "fees" for new streetlights?  Or park improvements? Hmm...

The answer is yes. But there is a big process for doing so.. it is not at the whim of the board.  The board would have to follow Proposition 218 which requires in part to get 2/3 of the voters to go along with it anything like that.

I think that's good news. It really does require overwhelming support of the voters to create  or increase a tax.

Regards,

--Wes

[Wes Zuber - WWCSD]

Let's hope the CSD does the right thing. It should either be mandatory for everyone, or optional for everyone.

Bob C makes a great point.

Regards,

--Wes

[lynnc]

Wes,  how many properties in LA County are we talking about?  (In other words, what is the total cost for dump cards for those residents?)

[Wes Zuber - WWCSD]

Wes,  how many properties in LA County are we talking about?  (In other words, what is the total cost for dump cards for those residents?)

111 residential Parcels at 85.14 each, which makes it $9,450.54.

Costs are;

There is a .30 fee charged by the LA Tax Collection office for each parcel from LA County for processing and a One time setup fee of $250.
There is a .25 charged by the  SB Tax Collection office fee for each parcel in SB County processing and a One time setup fee of $150

There is Dump card production by the WWCSD which we don't know the cost of that yet.
Every time someone uses their dump card there is a charge to the WWCSD. I will know more about this tomorrow, but is the same for both Counties of course. The way to think about it is that it doesn't matter which County you live in, it is that you live within the Wrightwood CSD and everyone is treated the same way.


Regards,

--Wes

[Wrightwood]

Complete mailing for SB County Disposal Use Permit (Dump Card) for 2017-2018

[tcaarabians]

There's an interesting sentence at the end of paragraph 2:  "For Mountain residents, this permit is NOT an exemption from mandatory trash and recycling services".   What has that meant for those of you in WW?   cheryl o7o

[Wes Zuber - WWCSD]

For Mountain residents, this permit is NOT an exemption from mandatory trash and recycling services

Good catch, I think it is indeed meant for those in WW. But as I understand it, it isn't mandatory right now, probably this means.. should that ever come to pass.

Regards,

--Wes

[Wrightwood]

I wonder if the extra punches for 13 F (flammable vegetation) loads are part of the calculation. Or if it's just the 52 loads equal $85.14 bill.

[Bob C]

Have we confirmed that LA County will send the fees that  they collect to the CSD?

[Wes Zuber - WWCSD]

Have we confirmed that LA County will send the fees that  they collect to the CSD?

They really have no choice. Wrightwood CSD is the taxing entity when it comes to the powers it has. They, the County, are just the collectors. We deal with the Tax Collecting office directly. They have a mechanism whereby we put the language and the assessed amount on the Property tax bill and they ACH it over to the CSD bank account. This is what happens with San Bernardino anyway and everything looks about the same to me for LA County.

The resolution must pass first by the board of course to take this action.

Regards,

--Wes

[thehallmarks]

" Wrightwood CSD is the taxing entity"

It was my understanding that the imposition of a tax took a 2/3 vote of those the tax who were being levied  upon--not the same for fees.  So what is it, a tax or a fee???

[scdesert]

[Wes Zuber - WWCSD]