Alameda Point

News

Ballot Measure Won't Repeal Measure A

By Dennis Evanosky, Columnist
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 – ALAMEDA SUN

Nor will all Alamedans pay for Point improvements

Red-hot rhetoric is competing with cold, hard facts, and two of the latter are falling victim to fiction. Some worry that the Alameda Point proposition will nullify Measure A, while others fret that that they will pay for improvements on the Point if they don't live there. Neither is correct.

The wording is simple: "There shall be no multiple dwelling units built in the City of Alameda."

In 1973, Alamedans went to the polls and approved "Measure A," a straightforward method of keeping Alameda, well, Alameda. Some 18 years later, voters complicated things a bit, passing an amendment that said, "The maximum density for any residential development within the City of Alameda shall be one housing unit per 2,000 square feet of land."

Another 18 years have passed and some see a new ballot initiative currently making the rounds to allow development on Alameda Point as something going against the Island City's grain. A few think this new measure will repeal Measure A. Their belief is simply not the case.

City Attorney Terry Highsmith's summary of the lengthy initiative make this clear. "This initiative proposes a development plan for Alameda Point, the 1,078-acre former military base," the beginning of Highsmith's summary reads. "The initiative exempts Alameda Point from Measure A, but would not change how Measure A applies to the rest of the city," the summary states.

According to the summary, if enough Alameda voters sign the initiative, it will become a measure on November's ballot. If the voters pass that measure it would amend the city's General Plan and, in Highsmith's words, "Add a new chapter establishing policies at Alameda Point."

The initiative revolves around a development agreement between the city and a developer that Alamedans can safely assume will be SunCal, although Highsmith's summary does not mention any developer by name. This agreement requires that the developer provided certain amenities: a sports complex, parks and open space, ferry terminal and transit hub, fire station improvements and a library branch.

Some are saying that Alamedans who do not live on the Point will be asked to finance these tangibles with tax dollars. This belief is also not true.

Alameda's redevelopment agency will direct directing all tax increment legally allowed to the property, and form a Mello-Roos district. The formation of this district would allow the sale of bonds and collection of a special property tax paid solely by Alameda Point property owners and only to finance the improvements. No taxpayer living off the Point can be legally expected to foot the bill for any of these improvements.

When California voters enacted Prop. 13 in 1978, they limited the ability of local public agencies to increase property taxes based on a property's assessed value. Three years later California legislators Henry Mello and Mike Roos sponsored legislation called the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act. This law provided the alternate method of financing that new communities need for improvements and services.

Mello-Roos districts allow the collection of special property tax on real estate, in addition to the normal property tax. Community facilities districts are formed and seek public financing through the sale of bonds for the purpose of financing public improvements and services. These include streets, water, sewage and drainage, electricity, infrastructure, schools, parks and police protection to newly developing areas. The tax paid is used to make the payments of principal and interest on the bonds.

Many communities requiring new schools and infrastructures such as public parks and roads typically impose Mello-Roos to raise the money necessary for these improvements.

Agreements made by the city and its redevelopment agency will neither repeal Measure A nor will it require any Alamedan not living on the Point to pay for improvements there.