Up Against the Wall : With No Commercial Center and Dwindling Funds, Unincorporated Rossmoor Faces Tough Choices

As the 11,000 residents of this unincorporated enclave prepare for long-awaited repairs to the signature brick wall that encloses and identifies their community, the financial masonry that provides public services is showing cracks.

Decreasing property tax revenue from the state is forcing the Rossmoor Community Services District to use fiscal reserves to help provide parks and recreation, tree trimming, street lighting and sweeping. But reserves are running dry.

“We have three more years at the current level,” said James S. Mocalis, general manager of the district since July. “After that, we’ll have no more reserves left.” Since some revenue will still stream in from taxes and services, Rossmoor won’t go broke, Mocalis said, but “there’s just not enough money to maintain services.”

This year, Rossmoor has used about $92,600 in reserves from its $1.8-million general fund budget, leaving about $287,600 in the bank. This is the third year reserves were needed.

Essentials such as sheriff’s deputies, ambulance service and firefighters, are provided by the county and will be unaffected by the district’s financial state. And the special fund of homeowner taxes used to pay off repairs to the 5-foot wall damaged in the Landers and Northridge earthquakes will also remain untouched.

Despite the problems, the five board members of the Community Services District have decided to continue providing the same level of services with the understanding that they will study solutions over the next several months.

“Even if we used up all of our reserves we wouldn’t be out of business,” said board member Linda Goodrich. “It means we wouldn’t be able to do the same things for the community that we’ve done since the district was formed.”

Community services districts such as Rossmoor are similar to city halls for some unincorporated areas of the county. District residents elect officials who control some services, such as street cleaning, but the county typically furnishes big-ticket items like public safety.

Major changes go to a vote of residents. This is how a bond issue, which will cost residents $24 a year for 20 years, to repair the wall was recently approved.

Goodrich and other officials blame the community’s overall financial shortfall on the state, which for the last three years has reduced the district’s income by returning a lower share of property taxes. Officials said the state has taken 49.3% more in taxes from Rossmoor than it did in 1993.

All California cities and districts have had their budgets reduced as well to help the state balance its budget.

“At some point we will have to make changes,” Goodrich said. “If we begin now to examine all possible options and the pluses and minuses of each of them, we’ll come up with factual information that will give the community a chance to voice their opinion in making the best choice for their future.”

Options include asking voters to approve a tax to balance the shortfall; incorporation; annexation to a neighboring city; dissolution of the Community Services District and returning all control to the county; selling public assets; or do nothing at all.

Incorporating North County’s most populous unincorporated area into a city would seem to make some sense due to its size. But Rossmoor lacks a commercial district, save for one restaurant, and that may not generate enough sales tax to run a city, officials said. Though next to the development, the Rossmoor Center strip mall lies in Seal Beach.

Not all want an independent Rossmoor. Resident Liz Myers said it’s about time to do the natural thing: Join Los Alamitos. The communities have been interlocked in many ways, including shopping, dining and activism, for more than 35 years.

As chummy as everyone in Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos feel, annexation would prove costly for a city that would have to absorb 11,000 new residents. The population of Los Alamitos, now 12,000, would nearly double, for example.

Rossmoor staff has met with the county, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos--where officials plan a wait-and-see approach, especially on annexation.

“You could best describe [Seal Beach] as an interested observer,” said Seal Beach City Manager Keith Till. “It’s premature, in a sense, to comment or evaluate beyond that. There may be soul searching that residents of Rossmoor would want to go through first.”

*

In a worst-case scenario under which nothing is done, officials said, services could decline, leaving public lawns mowed less often and streets swept once--instead of twice--a month. Or the county could take over services, which is the way things were from 1959 until the district was formed in 1986.

“Los Al or Seal Beach would have a difficult time taking on additional services if there were no guarantees that revenue sources would be there,” said Los Alamitos City Councilman Ronald Bates. “They’ve got a $3-billion outfit behind them--the county--and the county services. [Supervisor] Jim Silva can’t let them go down the tubes.”

A spokeswoman for Silva said the county supervisor is aware of the situation and will provide assistance when and if ask Rossmoor residents ask.

The Rossmoor Homeowners Assn. hopes to help guide the board to an amicable solution that protects the community’s autonomy, said board President Erwin Anisman.

“We’re going to be meeting with [Mocalis] and give him our input on which options we prefer, which would be to remain unincorporated,” Anisman said. “That’s shown to be the overwhelming desire of the people over here. There’s been attempts to incorporate in the past or be annexed by the neighboring cities and its always been voted down.”