Residents ask questions about proposed CBD

In an effort to gauge the amount of support for the creation of a Community Benefit District, three town hall meetings were held in the Fallbrook Public Utility District board room Sept. 19 and 20. There were 24 people at the Sept. 19 meeting, 28 at the first meeting Sept. 20 and 22 at the second meeting that day.

While no one expressed opposition to the proposal at the meeting for business owners, Sept. 19, there were lots of questions asked at the other two meetings.

The leaders of the meetings, Lila MacDonald, Jerri Patchett and Don McDougal, presented the reasons why the CBD is needed, how it would be run, and who would benefit from it.

MacDonald, CEO of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, explained that Fallbrook is not a city and that "incorporation has been tried three times and voted down each time."

Furthermore, the state has made it virtually impossible to incorporate now, she said, as it would require funding a city government with elections, lawyers, a police department, and a road department as well as sewage and water systems. "Property taxes would be raised a lot more than $5," she added.

Besides that, the town would have to pay back the county for any improvements it has made. As it is, Fallbrook is run by around 150 nonprofits that care for the physical environment of the town through fundraisers and the work of a shrinking pool of volunteers.

A committee has been meeting for the past year to figure out the details of the CBD. FPUD was chosen to use its latent power to collect a $5 a month fee from its customers to fund the benefit district. This way the money would be kept under local control and a committee of residents would decide how the money is used.

Patchett recognized three residents who have volunteered their services to keep Fallbrook looking good. Jackie Heyneman started Save Our Forest 19 years ago, Donna Gebhart has been with the Fallbrook Trails Council for 19 years, and Vince Ross has been involved with many organizations.

"There are not people like them stepping up (to take over leadership)," Patchett said.

While many visitors say "this is such a beautiful town", the benefit district would also benefit the residents of Fallbrook, said Patchett. The tentative budget for the first year is $558,000.

While community grants from the county can only be used for capital projects, the CBD funds could also be used for maintenance of already existing projects (the South Mission Road medians cost $12,000 a year) as well as the creation of new pocket parks, a skate park, etc.

McDougal made it clear that the CBD is not a project created by FPUD.

"It is a community-driven project," said McDougal, explaining that FPUD would merely be the mechanism to collect the money and distribute it without keeping any of it. Whereas the county would keep 25-30 percent off the top if it collected the money.

To make the CBD happen, he said, community organizations need to ask FPUD to request an expansion of its latent powers from the Local Agency Formation Commission which will review the proposal for a funding mechanism then hold a public hearing.

Only FPUD ratepayers would be involved and they would have 30 to 60 days to protest the creation of the district. McDougal explained that if less than 25 percent of the voters protest, the request would pass. If 25 to 50 percent of the voters protest, an election would have to be held which would cost $80,000-120,000. If more than 50 percent protest, the request would die.

Ratepayers would have the opportunity to protest through a form to fill out to be sent to them by LAFCO.

The $5 fee would be a line item on the customer's water bill, McDougal said. There would be a 3 percent escalation clause attached to the fee which will not become a tax. There would be an audit of the CBD funds each year, he continued, and the fee could be dropped in the future if the community requests it.

The fund would be overseen by a community advisory group of volunteers and the projects involved would only be in the FPUD service area. A question was asked about what percentage of area residents are in FPUD's area. There are 9,300 ratepayers, and figuring that there are an average of three people per household, the answer is roughly 50 percent.

Comments included North County Fire Chief Stephen Abbott saying that blight leads to crime and affects property values. Someone else pointed out that cleaning up graffiti discourages crime.

Allison Breathed said, "I appreciate forward thinking before it becomes chronic" referring to the lack of volunteers and adequate funding.

Jackie Heyneman said that she used to get 250 volunteers at tree plantings; the day before the meeting she only had five show up for a workday.

Patchett pointed out that many nonprofits spend half their time fundraising. "We will save money by not having to buy tickets for fundraisers," she said.

Gebhart described how long it takes to get projects done by the county. Whereas the amphitheater at Live Oak Park was a 10-year project, a nonprofit made up of people with passion can accomplish a similar project in less than two years, she said.

Patchett said the goal is that nonprofits will not be soliciting funds and to have leftover money each year to address capital projects in the future. Groups will be able to submit requests for public use projects; criteria will be established and receipts will have to be submitted. The budget will be transparent she said.

When asked if volunteers had been recruited from Fallbrook High School, MacDonald said that a volunteer fair has been held there for three years, and although the students are required to perform community service, they are electing not to serve it with the nonprofits that keep the town clean and green.

McDougal added that, "volunteers should not be doing some jobs like the median maintenance which can be dangerous."

A woman named Debbie said she is working on a master's degree in conservation and stressed the importance of "taking care of our conservancies affects everyone. What we have here is really big. Think beyond yourself and set an example."

A formal advisory committee will not be formed unless the proposal makes it through the LAFCO process but there is room on the current committee. Residents will also be able to bring comments to the FPUD board when it discusses the proposal.

Roy Moosa said, "The only communities that survive are self-sufficient and this will help."

For more information or to schedule a talk to one's group about the CBD, call Jerri Patchett, (760) 723-8635, or Lila MacDonald, Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, (760) 728-5845.