ROSSMOOR : Homeowners Favor Adding Tax for Park

In an advisory vote this week, homeowners supported a proposal to add an estimated $109 a year to their property taxes to pay for a new park.

Based on the results, the Rossmoor Community Services District board of directors will probably proceed with the purchase of the vacant 8 1/2-acre Rush Elementary School site at 3021 Blume Drive from the Los Alamitos Unified School District, board President Gustave Brickman said Wednesday.

According to the American Arbitration Assn., a Los Angeles firm that conducted the vote, the plan was approved, 55% to 45%, with 1,133 voters in favor of the school site purchase and 937 opposing it. There was a 60% turnout.

“This is pretty much of a mandate,” Brickman said, citing the turnout. “I would like us to proceed and sign the agreement (with the school district) as soon as possible.”

The school district would like to negotiate the purchase quickly because the $400,000 in interest income to be generated from the sale is already in next fiscal year’s budget, school district business manager Ron Murrey said.

The election was open only to property owners, and just one ballot could be cast for each of about 3,400 property parcels in Rossmoor, an unincorporated community of about 11,500 people.

If the property purchase is approved, an assessment district will be formed to buy the Rush site through a 30-year, $5-million bond, Community Services District General Manager Dan Stone said.

The Rush site is worth about $6 million, Murrey said, but is being offered for $4.2 million.