County to vote on revenue sharing program with Fontana
The city will enter into a 25-year revenue sharing program with San Bernardino County to bolster the amount of tax revenue it receives from certain properties.
The county created the program in February 2006 as a means to provide additional revenue to cities that receive a smaller percentage of property tax than others. Fontana only receives 3.24-percent of the one-percent general tax levy from the county.
Fontana has identified 10 parcels of property across the city comprised of 164 parcels totaling 1,216 acres. Each parcel is 20 contiguous acres or more in size.
On Tuesday, the City Council approved the agreement, which has yet to go before the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors for approval.
Under the program, the county will nearly double the amount of property tax revenue it transfers to the city - from 3.4 cents for every property tax dollar earned to seven cents. The city will use the additional revenue for public safety and infrastructure expansion as the land develops, said Lisa Strong, Fontana's management services director.
"We're definitely on the low end of the scale property tax wise," said Strong. "We'll take the extra money. We could always use it."
But the revenue-generating ability of the land is of little promise right now due to the flagging economy, and the land likely won't get developed anytime soon.
"If it doesn't develop for five years, it just means we've lost five years of that extra money," said Strong. "The big assessed value comes from the development."
Once the county approves the agreement, city officials will meet with representatives from the state Board of Equalization to establish special tax rate areas for each of the 10 properties in order to track them separately on the tax rolls, Strong said.
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