Yolo County ‘error’ on school bond leaves West Sacramento residents with higher taxes
West Sacramento residents this year received an unexpected increase to property taxes due to a Yolo County “error” for mistakenly believing debt payments on a school bond measure were ending.
The mistake was made by county officials in determining a tax rate that was sufficient to pay for Washington Unified School District Measure Q bond payments. Measure Q was passed by voters in 2004 for school facility improvements, construction and modernization to eliminate overcrowding.
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved tax rates on Aug. 29, and the tax bills were mailed to residents Sept. 20.
The tax rate levied for the 2004 Washington Unified School District bonds was significantly higher than previous years, particularly since the county did not have a tax levy for those bonds last year, said Tom Haynes, Yolo County’s interim chief financial officer.
He said the significant property tax increase “understandably caused a fair amount of concern and confusion” for residents. Haynes spoke at a Sept. 28 Washington Unified board meeting to offer some explanation and clarification.
County officials at the time believed debt payments on the 2004 bonds were ending when they were not, Haynes said. Now, the taxes that should have been levied last year have been carried forward to this current fiscal year to avoid default. He said the higher tax rate is needed to catch up on debt payments.
“I acknowledge and recognize not only the financial strain that these types of rate changes place on residents, but also the impact that it has on community trust,” Haynes said during the school board meeting. “And I personally apologize for any error on our part that has contributed to this situation.”
Mark Warford, a West Sacramento resident, said his questions about this issue to the school board office were “at a minimum inconsistent and also inaccurate.” He questioned the school board’s level of competence.
“The recent increases to the school bond rates of 150% to 400% on the most recently released tax bill are not acceptable,” Warford said during the Sept. 28 school board meeting. “And I request that the board hire an independent auditor in order to obtain a forensic audit of the school board bonds management.”
Yolo County officials have clarified that the increased tax rate is $120 per $100,000 of assessed property value per the 2004 bonds. Using the median home price in the county, that means a $532,500 home would pay $639 a year. On Saturday, the county mailed out clarifying information about the increased tax rates to more than 17,000 households.
Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez, president of the school board, said at the meeting that the board members could not ask Haynes any questions about the error or have any further dialogue, since the issue was not listed as an item on the agenda. But she promised the issue would be placed on a future board agenda.
“The public and all of us are deserving of answers. So, that is why we’ll have this on a future agenda item so that we can discuss, what happened and why it happened, and ensure that it never happens again with surprises,” Kirby-Gonzalez said at the meeting. “None of us should have surprises with our tax bill.”
Haynes told the school board that he already has taken a number of actions to ensure this error does not happen again, including “a thorough review” of all debt issuances from all agencies across the county to make sure county officials are “aware of absolutely everything.”
Haynes said Department of Financial Services officials were making changes to how the county calculates tax rates to avoid large increases or decreases year over year. He also promised that county officials were working collaboratively with school district staff to start sharing information before the tax bills go out to ensure the tax rates and their calculations are thoroughly reviewed.
He said the revenue from these increased taxes was only going to pay for this bond debt; the money doesn’t go anywhere else. Haynes also wanted to make it clear that residents were not getting overcharged either in the current fiscal year or over the life of the bonds.
“Had we been aware of the ongoing debt payments, not only would there have been a tax rate last year, but the tax rates in prior years likely would’ve been higher,” Haynes said.
He expects tax rates will return to normal over the remaining life of the school bonds once they’re caught up with debt payments after this fiscal year. Resident property tax payments are due in December and again in April.
The bonds — broken into Series A and Series B — are expected to be paid off by 2031. According to district officials, the current balance of the bonds are $31.65 million and $18.495 million, respectively.
