Property tax
Mello-Roos in North San Diego County
The most-asked question in 92127, and the one almost no agent site answers — because answering it means reading the County Auditor’s own district list rather than guessing. Below is that list, for all 50 communities we cover, including the seven where the honest answer is “none.”
Look up a community
Del Sur
Del Sur does carry Mello-Roos.
Del Sur sits inside the Black Mountain Ranch master plan and inside Poway Unified. Homes there can carry both a school-district CFD and a community CFD — which is why two similar homes on the same street can have materially different tax bills.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Poway Unified CFD #12 (Blk Mtn Rch) | 6122-20 | KeyAnalytics (877) 575-0265 |
| Black Mountain Ranch Villages CFD #4 | 6086-09 | Charmane Custodio (888) 892-2480 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
4S Ranch
4S Ranch does carry Mello-Roos.
Poway Unified administers 19 separate community facilities districts across its boundary and numbers them rather than naming them for communities, which is why the district's own report, not the county list, is what places a parcel. KeyAnalytics publishes a parcel lookup for every Poway Unified district.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Poway Unified CFD #6 — all of 4S Ranch | 6122-06 | KeyAnalytics (877) 575-0265 |
| Poway Unified CFD #6 Improvement Area B — the tracts north of Rancho Bernardo Road, on top of CFD #6 | 6122-18 | KeyAnalytics (877) 575-0265 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Scripps Ranch
No active district in the county list is named for Scripps Ranch.
No community facilities district in the County Auditor's active FY 2025-26 list is named for Scripps Ranch. That is the documented basis for the widely-repeated claim that Scripps Ranch homes generally do not carry Mello-Roos — but it is a statement about district names, not a parcel-level guarantee.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Carmel Valley
No active district in the county list is named for Carmel Valley.
No community facilities district in the County Auditor's active FY 2025-26 list is named for Carmel Valley or Torrey Highlands — but Poway Unified numbers its districts rather than naming them, and its CFD No. 10 report places that district in Torrey Highlands, either side of State Route 56 at Camino del Sur, so a Torrey Highlands address is a Poway Unified CFD question even though nothing in the list carries its name. Pacific Highlands Ranch, likewise, pays Solana Beach School District CFDs 99-1 and 2004-1. The boundary matters and the tax bill is the place to confirm it.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Del Mar
No active district in the county list is named for Del Mar.
The Auditor's active FY 2025-26 list carries no community facilities district named for the city of Del Mar. Del Mar's property-tax questions are usually about Prop 13 basis after a long hold, and about Coastal Zone permitting, rather than CFDs.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Rancho Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe does carry Mello-Roos.
The district financed the Santa Fe Valley's sewer and recycled-water system and its roads, and its bonds run to 2030. It is not the dominant cost question in the Covenant — HOA and club membership obligations, septic, and Art Jury review usually are.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Rancho Santa Fe CFD #1 (Community Service District) | 6870-04 | Paula Melendrez (760) 479-4150 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Solana Beach
Solana Beach does carry Mello-Roos.
The school district's boundary reaches well east of the city, and the three districts funded classrooms for the homes built out there: CFD 99-1 and 2004-1 in Pacific Highlands Ranch, in the City of San Diego, and CFD 2000-1 at The Crosby in unincorporated Rancho Santa Fe. Koppel & Gruber publish a parcel lookup at kgpf.us/SolanaBeach that returns the current levy for any address.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Solana Beach School District CFD 1999-1 | 6181-01 | Koppel & Gruber Public Finance (888) 510-0290 |
| Solana Beach School District CFD 2000-1 | 6181-02 | Koppel & Gruber Public Finance (888) 510-0290 |
| Solana Beach School District CFD 2004-1 | 6181-03 | Koppel & Gruber Public Finance (888) 510-0290 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Escondido
Escondido does carry Mello-Roos.
Each district is levied only on the parcels inside its own boundary, and all five are new-construction tracts, so the older stock that makes up most of the city carries none of them. Payoff and rate questions on the four city districts go to Special District Financing & Administration; the school district's go to KeyAnalytics.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden Trails CFD 2000-01 | 6038-42 | Special District Financing & Administration (760) 233-2630 |
| Eureka Springs CFD 2006-01 | 6038-54 | Special District Financing & Administration (760) 233-2630 |
| The Villages CFD 2020-2 (former Escondido Country Club) | 6038-62 | Special District Financing & Administration (760) 233-2630 |
| Eclipse / Mountain House CFD 2022-1 | 6038-63 | Special District Financing & Administration (760) 233-2630 |
| Escondido Union SD CFD No. 2019-1 | 6121-01 | KeyAnalytics (877) 575-0265 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Oceanside
No active district in the county list is named for Oceanside.
No community facilities district in the County Auditor's active FY 2025-26 list is named for Oceanside. For a buyer comparing Oceanside against San Marcos or 92127, that is a real monthly difference and it is rarely mentioned.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Fallbrook
No active district in the county list is named for Fallbrook.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Fallbrook. Rural parcels there raise different cost questions instead — well, septic and fire insurance.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
San Marcos
San Marcos does carry Mello-Roos.
San Marcos carries 91 active community facilities districts in the County Auditor's list — more than any other city in San Diego County. Most are improvement areas within CFD 98-02, numbered individually, and which one applies is a question about the parcel rather than the city. Anyone quoting a single 'San Marcos Mello-Roos figure' has not looked.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| San Marcos CFD 98-02 — the citywide levy and dozens of numbered neighborhood zones | 6090-xx | CFD Administration (760) 744-1050 |
| San Marcos CFDs 88-1, 91-02, 98-01, 99-01 (San Elijo Hills, by improvement area), 2002-01 and 2011-01 | 6090-xx | CFD Administration (760) 744-1050 |
| San Marcos Unified CFDs #4 through #18, one per newer tract | 6133-xx | KeyAnalytics (877) 575-0265 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Carlsbad
Carlsbad does carry Mello-Roos.
Coverage is uneven across the four ZIPs: the county roll places Aviara in the school district's CFD 1 and Bressi Ranch in its CFD 3, Robertson Ranch and Quarry Creek are in CFD 5, Rancho Carrillo pays San Marcos Unified's CFD 5 instead, and a 1981 Calavera Hills home carries none. The tax bill is the only reliable answer for a specific address.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Carlsbad CFD #1 — a one-time tax the builder pays at building permit, not an annual levy on homes | 6010-15 | Special District Financing (760) 233-2630 |
| Carlsbad Unified CFD #1, #3, #4 and #5 | 6115-01 / 6115-02 / 6115-04 / 6115-05 | Willdan Public Info (866) 807-6864 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Vista
No active district in the county list is named for Vista.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Vista. Note that searching that list for 'Vista' returns Chula Vista districts, which are in South Bay — a confusion worth avoiding.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Poway
Poway does carry Mello-Roos.
Poway is inside Poway Unified, which administers 19 active districts — but most of that CFD load sits in the newer 92127 communities rather than in the city of Poway itself. That distinction is exactly the comparison inland buyers are trying to make, and almost nobody spells it out.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Poway Unified CFDs — 19 active districts across the boundary | 6122-xx | KeyAnalytics (877) 575-0265 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Encinitas
Encinitas does carry Mello-Roos.
Encinitas has a single active district in the county list. Most of the city's housing predates CFD formation and carries none.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Encinitas CFD #1 | 6036-42 | Willdan Financial (866) 807-6864 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Valley Center
Valley Center does carry Mello-Roos.
A fire-service levy is a different animal from a development CFD — which is itself the useful signal for a buyer weighing a rural parcel: fire service here is funded, and separately assessed. The district's benefit-unit schedule for a single home is not published online, so the line on the tax bill is the figure.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Valley Center Fire Protection District CFD 2000-1 | 3150-02 | Joe Napier (760) 751-7600 |
| Valley Center Fire Protection District CFD 2008-1 | 3150-03 | Joe Napier (760) 751-7600 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Ramona
No active district in the county list is named for Ramona.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Ramona. As with Fallbrook, the real cost questions on a large parcel are well, septic and fire insurance rather than Mello-Roos.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Cardiff-by-the-Sea
No active district in the county list is named for Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
Encinitas has exactly one community facilities district in the active list, CFD No. 1, and the county's own footnote for it points at the city's Encinitas Ranch page — Encinitas Ranch is the inland development off Leucadia Boulevard, not Cardiff. What a Cardiff-by-the-Sea tax bill does carry, and an Encinitas Union one does not, is the Cardiff School District's own general obligation bond. That is an ad valorem levy voted by the district's own voters, not a Mello-Roos special tax, and the two sit on different lines of the same bill.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Leucadia
No active district in the county list is named for Leucadia.
No district in the active list is named for Leucadia. The one Encinitas district, CFD No. 1, is the Encinitas Ranch district, and whether a particular parcel falls inside its boundary is a parcel-level question the city answers — so the honest answer for any specific Leucadia address is to read the tax bill, which names every district that applies, or ask the city's finance department. The special district that does reach every Leucadia parcel is the Leucadia Wastewater District, and that is a service charge rather than a special tax.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
San Elijo Hills
San Elijo Hills does carry Mello-Roos.
CFD 99-01 is priced per square foot of house rather than per home, which is why two San Elijo Hills neighbors on the same street can pay figures that are hundreds of dollars apart. Each improvement area also sunsets on its own schedule. The rates, the bond balances and the sunset years are on the cost page; what matters before an offer is which improvement area the parcel is in, because that single letter-and-number is the whole answer.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| San Marcos CFD 99-01 — 28 improvement areas in the active list, from IA A1 to IA V1A, each with its own rate and its own sunset | 6090-28 to 6090-59 | CFD Administration (760) 744-1050 |
| City CFD 98-02 Improvement Area F-9 — the citywide lighting and landscaping zone for San Elijo Hills | 6090-xx | CFD Administration (760) 744-1050 |
| City CFD 98-01 and its Improvement Area 1 — the era levies for tracts built from 1998 and from 2001 on | 6090-25 / 6090-78 | CFD Administration (760) 744-1050 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Lake San Marcos
No active district in the county list is named for Lake San Marcos.
Lake San Marcos is unincorporated, which is the reason rather than a coincidence: the City of San Marcos has 92 lines in the county list and a city district cannot levy on a parcel outside the city. San Marcos Unified forms a district per new tract, and its numbered districts all sit on construction from the late 1980s onward — decades after this community was built. What a Lake San Marcos tax bill does carry is association dues, which are not a special tax and do not appear on it at all.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Mission Hills
No active district in the county list is named for Mission Hills.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Mission Hills. These are established neighborhoods that predate the 1982 Mello-Roos Act or were built without CFD financing, which is the ordinary position for older San Diego housing stock — the special tax is a feature of master-planned construction, not of the city.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Little Italy
No active district in the county list is named for Little Italy.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Little Italy. These are established neighborhoods that predate the 1982 Mello-Roos Act or were built without CFD financing, which is the ordinary position for older San Diego housing stock — the special tax is a feature of master-planned construction, not of the city.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Point Loma
No active district in the county list is named for Point Loma.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Point Loma. These are established neighborhoods that predate the 1982 Mello-Roos Act or were built without CFD financing, which is the ordinary position for older San Diego housing stock — the special tax is a feature of master-planned construction, not of the city.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Del Cerro
No active district in the county list is named for Del Cerro.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Del Cerro. These are established neighborhoods that predate the 1982 Mello-Roos Act or were built without CFD financing, which is the ordinary position for older San Diego housing stock — the special tax is a feature of master-planned construction, not of the city.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Mira Mesa
No active district in the county list is named for Mira Mesa.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Mira Mesa. These are established neighborhoods that predate the 1982 Mello-Roos Act or were built without CFD financing, which is the ordinary position for older San Diego housing stock — the special tax is a feature of master-planned construction, not of the city.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Sorrento Valley
No active district in the county list is named for Sorrento Valley.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Sorrento Valley. These are established neighborhoods that predate the 1982 Mello-Roos Act or were built without CFD financing, which is the ordinary position for older San Diego housing stock — the special tax is a feature of master-planned construction, not of the city.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Rancho Bernardo
No active district in the county list is named for Rancho Bernardo.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Rancho Bernardo. Most of it was built between the 1960s and the 1990s, largely before the Mello-Roos Act of 1982 was used at scale in this county, which is the practical reason the older tracts here carry a lighter special-tax load than the 92127 master plans that share their school district. Poway Unified numbers its CFDs rather than naming them for communities, so absence from the list is not absence from a parcel's bill — and Rancho Bernardo is large and was built in phases, so this is a question about the address rather than about the community.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Carmel Mountain Ranch
No active district in the county list is named for Carmel Mountain Ranch.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Carmel Mountain Ranch. It sits inside Poway Unified, which administers numbered CFDs across its boundary rather than districts named for communities, so absence from the list is not the same as absence from a parcel's bill — check the specific address. That distinction is the whole reason this community compares favorably with the 92127 master plans on tax while sharing their school district.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Rancho Peñasquitos
No active district in the county list is named for Rancho Peñasquitos.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for Rancho Peñasquitos, and as with Carmel Mountain Ranch that is a statement about the list rather than about every parcel: Poway Unified's CFDs are numbered, not named by community. Confirm at the address.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Santaluz
Santaluz does carry Mello-Roos.
One of the few communities where the special tax is the headline rather than a footnote. Three improvement areas of the same CFD are levied separately, so two Santaluz addresses can sit in different improvement areas and carry different amounts — the improvement area, not the community, is what the bill follows.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Luz CFD #2 Improvement Area 1 | 6085-14 | Charmane Custodio (888) 892-2480 |
| SD Santaluz CFD #2 Improvement Area 3 | 6086-06 | Charmane Custodio (888) 892-2480 |
| SD Santaluz CFD #2 Improvement Area 4 | 6086-07 | Charmane Custodio (888) 892-2480 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
La Jolla
No active district in the county list is named for La Jolla.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for La Jolla. Property-tax questions there are usually Proposition 13 basis after long ownership, and reassessment at sale — a different conversation entirely.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Pacific Beach
No active district in the county list is named for Pacific Beach.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Pacific Beach. The carrying costs that actually surprise buyers here are coastal: insurance, and the licensing economics of short-term rental plans.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Ocean Beach
No active district in the county list is named for Ocean Beach.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Ocean Beach. The cost conversations that matter are condition and coastal exposure on older cottages, not special taxes.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Hillcrest
No active district in the county list is named for Hillcrest.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Hillcrest. Maintenance assessment districts — a different, smaller instrument — do operate in San Diego's urban neighborhoods, and the tax bill itemizes any that apply.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
North Park
No active district in the county list is named for North Park.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for North Park. Where a home is a designated historic resource, the relevant tax program runs the other way — a Mills Act contract can reduce property taxes in exchange for preservation obligations.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Downtown San Diego
No active district in the county list is named for Downtown San Diego.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Downtown San Diego. The monthly obligation that behaves like a second tax downtown is the HOA assessment, and it is read in the association's budget and CC&Rs rather than on the county bill.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
College Area
No active district in the county list is named for College Area.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for the College Area. The community's cost questions are rental-market questions — what a property can lawfully be, not what it is taxed.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Clairemont
No active district in the county list is named for Clairemont.
No district in the active list is named for Clairemont, and the City of San Diego's five lines are Santaluz, Liberty Station and Black Mountain Ranch — master-planned construction, decades newer. Clairemont was built from 1950 onward, more than thirty years before the Mello-Roos Act existed. The cost question here is not a special tax; it is what the December 2025 plan update and the March 2026 height limit change do to what a Clairemont lot can hold.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
La Mesa
No active district in the county list is named for La Mesa.
No district in the County Auditor's active list is named for La Mesa. These are established neighborhoods that predate the 1982 Mello-Roos Act or were built without CFD financing, which is the ordinary position for older San Diego housing stock — the special tax is a feature of master-planned construction, not of the city.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Chula Vista
Chula Vista does carry Mello-Roos.
The split is geographic: western Chula Vista's older stock largely predates the Mello-Roos era, while nearly all of the load sits east of Interstate 805. Which districts apply, and at what amount, is parcel-specific — the tax bill names every line.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| City districts — Otay Ranch villages, Eastlake, Millenia, Sunbow; 33 lines in the county list | 6014-xx / 6015-xx | Spicer Consulting Group (866) 504-2067 |
| Chula Vista Elementary CFDs #1–#21 | 3798-xx | Chula Vista Elementary School District (619) 425-9600 |
| Sweetwater Union High CFDs #1–#6 | 6159-xx | Sweetwater Union High School District (619) 691-5575 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Santee
Santee does carry Mello-Roos.
Most of Santee's housing stock predates community facilities financing entirely. The city publishes its own CFD information; the county list and the bill are the checkable record.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Santee CFD 2015-1 Zone 1 (El Nopal Estates II) | 6091-46 | City of Santee (619) 258-4100 |
| Santee CFD 2017-1 Weston Infrastructure | 6091-47 | City of Santee (619) 258-4100 |
| Santee CFD 2017-2 Weston Municipal Services | 6091-48 | City of Santee (619) 258-4100 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
El Cajon
No active district in the county list is named for El Cajon.
No community facilities district in the County Auditor's active FY 2025-26 list is named for El Cajon. On older East County stock that is the quiet half of the affordability math: the same loan payment buys more house when no special-tax line sits on top of it.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Spring Valley
No active district in the county list is named for Spring Valley.
No community facilities district in the active list is named for Spring Valley. As unincorporated county territory its cost questions run to county service levels and parcel condition rather than special taxes.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Lemon Grove
Lemon Grove does carry Mello-Roos.
A district named in the list is not the same thing as a tax on the housing stock — the Promenade district has five parcels on the county's FY 2025-26 roll, levied $26,582.58 in total for the Main Street Promenade park. Residential Lemon Grove's property-tax story is ordinary base rates on mid-century stock.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Main St Promenade CFD 2013-1 | 6060-14 | City of Lemon Grove (619) 825-3800 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Eastlake
Eastlake does carry Mello-Roos.
The letters in those district numbers are the part worth reading. An “I” district is bond-financed: it paid for streets and bridges up front and the levy stops when the bonds are retired. An “M” district is maintenance, formed to fund slope, median and storm-water upkeep in perpetuity — there is no payoff date and no final maturity, because there are no bonds to retire. A buyer comparing two Eastlake homes is often comparing one of each. On top of the city districts, Chula Vista Elementary and Sweetwater Union both levy their own special taxes by tract, so an east-side Chula Vista bill can carry three layers.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| CFD 06-I, Eastlake Woods and Vistas — a bond district: it funded backbone streets, development-impact-fee improvements and pedestrian bridges, and it ends when the bonds are retired | 6014-94 | Spicer Consulting Group (866) 504-2067 |
| CFD 06-I Improvement Area B — the same district's second area, billed as its own line | 6014-98 | Spicer Consulting Group (866) 504-2067 |
| CFD 07M, Eastlake III Woods and Vistas — a maintenance district formed in 2002 for slopes, medians, parkways and storm-water treatment, which does not end | 6014-93 | Spicer Consulting Group (866) 504-2067 |
| CFD 07M Improvement Area 2 | 6014-96 | Spicer Consulting Group (866) 504-2067 |
| Chula Vista Elementary CFDs #1 to #21 — fifteen are active in the list, assigned by tract | 3798-xx | Chula Vista Elementary School District (619) 425-9600 |
| Sweetwater Union High CFDs #1 to #20 — twenty-one lines, assigned by tract | 6159-xx | Sweetwater Union High School District (619) 691-5575 |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Coronado
No active district in the county list is named for Coronado.
Coronado appears nowhere in the county's active district list — not one line under any Coronado agency. That is the ordinary position for housing stock built long before the 1982 Mello-Roos Act, and Coronado's is older than most: the city incorporated in 1890. The carrying costs that actually move a Coronado number are different ones: association dues wherever the housing is a common-interest development, flood and coastal insurance, and Mills Act agreements, which cut the property tax on a designated historic resource rather than adding to it.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Temecula
Temecula does carry Mello-Roos.
The city's districts are obligations of the property owners within each district boundary, not of the City of Temecula — and the school district's levies are separate again, so a Temecula tax bill can carry both a city and a school CFD line. The bill names each district that applies to the parcel.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Harveston | 01-02 | City of Temecula temeculaca.gov |
| Crowne Hill | 03-01 | City of Temecula temeculaca.gov |
| Roripaugh Ranch (Phase 1, the Panhandle) | 03-02 | City of Temecula temeculaca.gov |
| Wolf Creek | 03-03 | City of Temecula temeculaca.gov |
| Harveston II | 03-06 | City of Temecula temeculaca.gov |
| Roripaugh Ranch Phase 2 (Sommers Bend) | 16-01 | City of Temecula temeculaca.gov |
| Heirloom Farms | 20-01 | City of Temecula temeculaca.gov |
| Temecula Valley USD CFD 2004-1 (Wolf Creek) and 2005-1 | 2004-1 / 2005-1 | the school district specialdistricttransparency.com |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Murrieta
Murrieta does carry Mello-Roos.
New districts are still being formed — the city formed the Gierson Ranch district in June 2026 with bonds authorized up to $8 million — so a brand-new tract's special-tax load is set at formation, before the first home sells. Western Municipal Water District also operates community facilities financing in the area. The tax bill names every district that applies.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| The 2000–2005 bond districts — Greer Ranch, The Oaks, Murrieta Highlands, Murrieta Springs, Blackmore, Creekside, Mapleton, Bremerton, Murrieta Fields, Amberwalk, Springbrook, Golden City | 2000-1 / 2000-2 / 2001-1 / 2003-1 / 2003-2 / 2003-3 / 2003-4 / 2004-1 / 2004-2 / 2004-3 / 2005-1 / 2005-5 | City of Murrieta murrietaca.gov |
| Rustic Meadows, and the 2025 maintenance and public-safety districts new tracts annex into | 2025-4 / 2025-2 / 2025-S | City of Murrieta murrietaca.gov |
| Gierson Ranch — formed June 2026, bonds authorized to $8M | 2026-1 | City of Murrieta murrietaca.gov |
| Murrieta Valley USD districts | 2001-4 / 2004-1 | the school district murrieta.k12.ca.us |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
Menifee
Menifee does carry Mello-Roos.
Menifee's special taxes are billed through the County of Riverside and appear as separate line items on the property tax bill — the same reading skill the San Diego pages teach applies here, with different district names. Eastern Municipal Water District participates in community facilities financing for new development as well.
| District | Fund | Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Citywide maintenance CFD 2015-2 (37 zones) and CFD 2017-1 (maintenance zones) | 2015-2 / 2017-1 | City of Menifee menifee.ca.gov |
| The four original services districts — Audie Murphy Ranch, Hidden Hills, Town Center, Commerce Pointe | 2012-1 / 2012-2 / 2014-1 / 2014-2 | City of Menifee menifee.ca.gov |
| City bond districts for the newer tracts — Meadow Run, McCall Mesa, Del Oro, Banner Park, Sumac Ridge, Quartz Ranch, McLaughlin Village, Legado, Rockport Ranch, Cimarron Ridge | 2019-1 / 2020-1 / 2020-2 / 2021-1 / 2021-2 / 2022-1 / 2022-2 / 2022-3 / 2023-1 / 2023-2 | City of Menifee menifee.ca.gov |
| Menifee Union School District CFDs | 2011-1 / 2014-3 / 2003-2 among them | the school district menifeeusd.org |
| Romoland School District CFD 2004-1 (Heritage Lake) and others | 2004-1 | Koppel & Gruber kgpf.us/Romoland |
| Perris Union High School District CFDs | 92-1 / 91-1 | the school district puhsd.org |
| Riverside County CFD 03-1 (Newport Road) | 03-1 | County of Riverside rivco.org |
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
What is Mello-Roos?
Mello-Roos is an additional property tax levied inside a community facilities district (CFD), used in San Diego County and across California to pay for the schools, roads and parks that a new development required. It is charged on top of the ordinary property tax, it is set per parcel rather than per neighborhood, and it appears as a separate line item on the tax bill.
The name comes from the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982, passed after Proposition 13 limited what cities could raise through ordinary property tax. The practical effect for a buyer today: two similar homes on the same street can carry materially different monthly costs, and the difference is invisible in a listing price.
What is the difference between Mello-Roos and an HOA?
In San Diego County, Mello-Roos is a tax and an HOA fee is a private contract. Mello-Roos is levied by a government district, arrives as a line on your county property tax bill, pays for public infrastructure, and normally ends when the bonds are repaid. HOA dues are billed by a private association, pay for shared private property, and do not end. A San Diego County home can carry both, either, or neither — they are unrelated charges, and one is not a substitute for the other.
The differences that change what you actually pay:
- Who charges it. A community facilities district is a public agency formed by a city, county or school district. An HOA is a private nonprofit corporation governed by its CC&Rs under the Davis-Stirling Act.
- Whether it ends. Mello-Roos bonds are issued for a fixed term, so the levy has an end date — though districts that fund ongoing services rather than construction can levy indefinitely. HOA dues have no end date at all.
- Whether it can rise. A CFD's special tax is capped by the formula in the district's own rate and method of apportionment. An HOA board can raise regular dues each year, but California Civil Code §5605 bars an increase of more than 20% over the prior year, or special assessments totalling more than 5% of budgeted expenses, without a member vote.
- What happens if you don't pay. Unpaid Mello-Roos can be pursued through accelerated judicial foreclosure, which moves faster than ordinary property tax delinquency. An HOA records a lien and can foreclose on that.
Two practical notes. A seller must give you written notice of a continuing Mello-Roos lien under California Civil Code §1102.6b, so it should never be a surprise at closing — ask for it if you have not seen it. And on taxes, treat the two differently: HOA dues on a primary residence are not deductible, and the deductibility of a Mello-Roos levy depends on what it funds, so that one is a question for a CPA rather than for us.
To find out what a specific address carries, use the lookup below for the Mello-Roos side and ask the listing agent for the HOA's current dues, reserve study and pending special assessments.
How much is Mello-Roos in San Diego County?
No single San Diego County figure exists, and any source quoting one for a whole city has not read the county's list. A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel: it varies by district, by improvement area within that district, and by the phase a home was built in. The authoritative number is the line item on that property's tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number.
What can be published is the rate each district charges for a stated class of home in a stated fiscal year, from the administrator’s own annual report, and when the levy is scheduled to end. Those figures, with their sources, are on the community cost pages: 4S Ranch, Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Del Sur, Encinitas, Escondido, Menifee, Murrieta, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, Santaluz, Santee, Solana Beach, Temecula. For everything else, the administrator can give you the current levy and the remaining term for a specific address; a website cannot.
Which San Diego city has the most Mello-Roos?
San Marcos, by a wide margin. The County Auditor's active FY 2025-26 list carries 91 community facilities districts for San Marcos — more than any other city in San Diego County. Most are separately numbered improvement areas within a small number of parent districts, which is precisely why no single San Marcos figure exists.
Can I get Poway Unified schools without a big Mello-Roos bill?
The city of Poway is where to look. Poway Unified administers 19 active districts, but the bulk of that load sits in the newer 92127 communities the district also serves — Del Sur, 4S Ranch, the Black Mountain Ranch villages — rather than in the older city of Poway itself, which was largely built before those districts were formed.
Same school district, materially different total monthly cost, older housing stock and larger lots in exchange. It is a parcel-level question rather than a guarantee — the tax bill confirms it — but it is real, checkable, and almost nobody spells it out. See the Poway guide.
Want the number for a specific address?
The district administrator can give you the current levy and remaining term once you know which district applies. If you would rather we just pulled it together — the districts, the schools, and what comparable homes on that street actually sold for — send the address.
Source: County of San Diego Auditor & Controller, Active Mello-Roos Districts (CFD) for FY 2025-2026, retrieved 2026-07-25. The Auditor’s list names districts; it does not map parcels. “No district is named for X” is a fact about that list, not a parcel-level guarantee — a homeowner can sit inside a differently-named district. The tax bill is where the truth for a given parcel lives.
Last updated 2026-09-17