By Stuart R. Josephs

Re: “Time for a facelift, Del Cerro? A viable option” [Volume 22, Issue 6]

Mark Rawlins’ guest editorial promotes a Del Cerro Maintenance Assessment District (MAD), alleging various benefits such as enhanced maintenance and beautification of medians, public right-of-ways, open spaces, canyons, parks and sidewalks.

These so-called benefits are luxuries and will be very expensive for Del Cerro property owners.

In 2003, the same proposal was made but defeated by the grass-roots opposition of many Del Cerro property owners. The Del Cerro Taxpayers Association was instrumental in defeating this ill-conceived proposal because:

• The MAD was nothing more than a blatant tax increase;
• In our opinion, Del Cerro already was beautiful as it was; and
• If improvements were needed, they should be paid for by the property and sales taxes already being collected.

These same reasons continue to be the basis of our opposition to the MAD that now is being re-proposed. Once again, we are in the process of mobilizing Del Cerro property owners through another grass-roots effort to soundly defeat this new MAD proposal.

We have collected many signatures opposing the MAD. The overwhelming majority of Del Cerro property owners that we have contacted have signed our petition. Only an extremely small of people have declined to sign.

Mr. Rawlins lists several specific landscaping projects for the MAD. In this time of severe drought, such landscaping would be most irresponsible.

He also estimates the cost to each property owner to be $90 to $144 each year, but then indicates that the city will be required to determine the actual cost. Knowing how bureaucracies operate, these costs will only skyrocket. In any event, this annual cost will be added to our property tax bills.

Mr. Rawlins further states that with 850 signatures, the city will pay $15 to $50,000 to establish the MAD and that the city will hire an Assessment Engineer. It appears likely that these additional costs also will be passed on to Del Cerro property owners.

Many homeowners believe that the MAD will circumvent Proposition 13’s benefits. This MAD is being proposed at a time of potential federal and California tax increases, such as the likely November 2016 ballot measure to extend the California sales tax.

To sum it up, MAD is bad!

We urge all Del Cerro readers to attend the next meeting of the Del Cerro Action Council on July 28 at 7 p.m. at Congregation Emanu-El to voice their opposition to higher taxes.

For additional information, please call our secretary, Donna Dose, at 619-463-4024.

—Stuart R. Josephs, CPA, is president of the Del Cerro Taxpayers Association.