ROSSMOOR : District to Sell Bonds to Buy Site for Park

After nearly two years of delay, the Rossmoor Community Services District is all set to sell $5 million in bonds and use the proceeds to pay for the vacant Rush School site and convert it into a park.

Board members last week unanimously approved several legal documents that set the sale in motion. It will take an additional 60 days before the sale is completed and for the district to receive the money, said District General Manager Bill Sheldon.

“But it’s good to see this process finally move forward,” Sheldon said.

The state Supreme Court cleared the way for the bond sale in a ruling last month. The state’s high court said that community service districts, such as Rossmoor, have the authority to assess property taxes to finance property acquisition for parks and recreational purposes.

Resident Virginia Dorton had claimed in a lawsuit first filed in Orange County Superior Court in September, 1991, that the assessment violated Proposition 13. After the Orange County Superior Court ruled against her, she appealed the case to an appellate court in San Diego.

Last December, the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the Superior Court’s ruling that state law allows Rossmoor to form an assessment district. That ruling was upheld by the state Supreme Court last month.

The community services district bought the Rush site from the Los Alamitos Unified School District in July, 1991, for $4.1 million. But because of the delay in the sale of the bonds, which was expected to pay for the purchase, the community services district and the school district agreed to have the property paid for through installments.

The community services district so far has paid the school district $500,000, Sheldon said. Once the bonds are sold, the full amount will be paid.

Sheldon said interest rates for the bonds will be negotiated next month between the district and Sutro & Co. of Los Angeles, the bond underwriter. In June, the district will receive the money, he said.