Group to Raise Funds to Sue Over Use of Tax for Toll Road

Residents of unincorporated Aliso Viejo have decided to sue the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies for using Mello-Roos tax revenue for the toll-road project and have set a fund-raising goal of $75,000 to help pay legal costs.

Deborah L. Anderson, president of the Aliso Viejo Citizens Action League, said Wednesday the group believes that a class-action lawsuit would be filed in the fall.

The group wants a judge to rule that more than $60 million in revenue should be refunded to the community because the money never should have been spent on the toll road under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982.

A spokeswoman for the corridor agencies has said she will not comment until she sees the league’s threatened lawsuit.

The group will begin a fund-raising campaign, asking the 20,000 residents in Aliso Viejo to join in the fight. Group leaders hope to get $25 from at least 3,000 people to pay legal costs.

“We were looking for a community investment,” Anderson said. “And this is a good idea.”

The league has hired Irvine attorney Jim Toledano.

“No attorney we called wanted to take this on a pro-bono basis,” Anderson said. “But we found Jim and he has told us he will be in this for the long fight.”