verbiage - mell roos

this entry applies to california home buyers.  what the hell is mell roos and what does it mean to me?  when the state of california passed proposition 13, it locked in property tax levies, meaning cities could not increase the property taxes to help pay for all the great things that make up the great cities of california.  cities cost money; building them up and out and maintaining them cost a lot of money.  we also have to pay the people who run them.  apparently that huge chunk of change they charge you for owning a home, around 1%  of your estimated property value or more, depending on where you live, is not enough to pay for everything.  along come two lawyers named mell and roos(i'm guessing their last names) who get legislature passed so that cities can charge you these fees to pay for new stuff your city needs.  these fees took on the names of the lawyers who somehow got it to be legal for cities to charge you more property taxes, about another 1% of your estimated property value, depending on where you live:  mell roos!  okay, i'm not sure how they made it legal, but it is legit and it's kind of lame if you ask me.  it's another huge cost added on to the already huge cost of owning a home.  but, and this is a big but, not all cities charge mell roos!  so, if you're buying a home in california, try and find a city that does not charge mell roos.  obviously, this really shouldn't be a guiding star for you when deciding where to live, but it's something to consider.  for example, anaheim does not charge mell roos, but orange does.  two cities next to each other and one does not charge mell roos?  i think i'll attempt to buy in the one that does not have mell roos.  now, not a lot of cities in california are surviving without mell roos, so odds are, you're going to pay them.  you can probably search the net to find out which cities are not charging them, but i don't have that info currently.  most new communities will advertise that there are no mell roos when buying into their community, so if you see that, breathe a sigh of relief.  if not, just make sure you keep the cost in mind when deciding how much you can afford to take on.  basically, mell roos doubles your property tax.  just accept it or don't buy in california.