SFID #1 - School Bond Assessment - Error Discovered for 260 homes

Date:  6-2-2016 RJUHSD Office

On June 2, 2016, FFNA board members Loren and Sue Cook met with Joe Landon, Assistant Superintendent of Roseville Joint Union High School District at the District Office to address issues related to the school bond designated SFID #1.  After investigating the school bond, Sue Cook realized that the fee had been improperly assessed on many homes that were supposed to be exempt (homes where permits were pulled prior to the December 2006 cut-off date and for which buyers were not given proper notice of the pending bond measure).  An initial check with the Placer County Tax Assessor’s Office informed Mrs. Cook that their tax assessment information came from the school district and directed her to contact the school district.

Upon notification of the discrepancy, Joe Landon made numerous contacts to follow-up on the matter.  According to Mr. Landon, here is the information he could provide at this time: 

• The entity actually supplying the list of homes for the assessment was believed to come from the State Board of Equalization.    Although they (the State Board of Equalization) correctly exempted Del Webb’s The Club homes, they failed to exempt 260 homes in the WestPark and Fiddyment Farm developments that should have been exempted.
• The SFID #1 assessment began in the 2010/2011 tax year and has continued until now.  Because the tax assessments are set in December, Mr. Landon said the Placer County Tax Assessor indicated the assessments for 2016/2017 cannot be changed at this point.  However, they said the error will be fixed this coming December 2016 and will be correctly exempted on the 2017/2018 assessments.  
• The improper tax assessment for the 2015/2016 year for the 260 homes is $14,537; it’s estimated to be approximately $80,000 to $90,000 total for the last six (6) years that it has been improperly imposed (not counting the upcoming 2016/2017 assessments).   
•  The 260 homes have been identified and we will provide that information on the FFNA website.

The most troubling part of the conversation was that Mr. Landon said they could not indicate if there would be any reimbursement to the 260 homeowners for assessments collected in error.  He indicated that the Board of Equalization had this same incident occur once previously and only a few homes were involved for one year - they reportedly denied to make reimbursement but fixed the matter right away.  However, we are 260 homes for a period of 6 years already to this point, plus the approaching 2016/2017 assessments as well.  He said, technically the assessments are shared by all the homes in the assessment district, and explained that although adjustments can be corrected for the future, there is probably no way to reverse the process to collect back all the assessments collected in error that would be reimbursable to the 260 homeowners.

Mr. Landon said they are still trying to pursue remedies for the 260 homes.  He sounded skeptical that the State Board of Equalization would agree to be held responsible for reimbursement of the funds to the 260 homes, but said the school district will look into it as well.  The only good news at this point is that a correction will be in place for the future.

We are attempting to follow up with the Placer County Tax Manager to see if we can’t get some action to address the issue for the 260 homes - there should be a remedy not to have to pay the SFID #1 assessment already known to be incorrect. Our homeowners should not have to face an additional year that might never be reimbursed. Our WestPark and Fiddyment Farm Neighborhood Associations will keep you informed.

Highlighted homes that are affected by the error:  260 Homes Affected by SFID#1 Error.pdf