Rossmoor Takes the Offensive Against Supercity Merger with Los Al and Seal

Seal Beach may have been the first and most adamant in opposition to County Supervisor John Moorlach’s proposal to merge Seal Beach, Rossmoor and Los Alamitos into one big ‘Supercity,’ but Rossmoor came out swinging this week with a report that takes aim at the financial basis for the merger.

In an effort to refute claims that Rossmoor is a financial drain on the county, Rossmoor officials hired an auditor to parse the county data. In the process, the auditor poked holes in the county’s Shared Services Case Study, a fiscal analysis of Rossmoor, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos that claimed a merger could save taxpayers $2.8 million. Rossmoor’s independent auditor, Harvey M. Rose Associates, LLC concluded that the county report underestimated the expenses associated with a tri-city merger and exaggerated the expenses incurred by the county to provide services to unincorporated Rossmoor.

Instead of being a $124,000 drain on the county, property and sales tax from Rossmoor actually creates a $ 317,440 surplus to the county, the firm concluded.

“We have suspected that all along but have never had the opportunity to prove it,” said Rossmoor Community Services District general Manager Henry Taboada.

The finding should discourage county officials from continued pressure to merge Rossmoor with another city as a cost-savings measure, said Taboada.

“They just ought to give up and leave us alone,” he added. “The startup costs for merging three (communities) is horrible, and that is totally ignored in the county’s case study. It’s just not a thorough review.”

Following the audit Taboada issued a written statement dismissing the case study released in October by the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).

 “The Rose analysis speaks volumes about the lack of foundation for the super city scenario,” wrote RCSD General Manager Henry Taboada. “The LAFCO report creates a false impression about possible savings for a merged community and gives rise to the impracticality of suggesting such a merger.”

Not having seen the audit Wednesday, Moorlach declined to comment.

In his role as Orange County supervisor, Moorlach has a track record absorbing unincorporated islands like Rossmoor into neighboring cities. He has consistently maintained that Rossmoor is a “financial drain” on the county and has decried the duplication of services and waste of money that goes into serving county islands that could easily be served by neighboring cities. He has said it his top priority in 2012 for Los Alamitos to annex the Rossmoor Shopping Village, a first step in eliminating the island itself.

In attacking the Moorlach’s case for a Supercity, the Rossmoor audit concluded:

“The Case Study presents County of Orange revenues and expenditures attributable to the Rossmoor community but does not provide any documentation of the sources for this data.”

The Case Study’s $1,461,000 estimated County cost for law enforcement services provided to RCSD appears to be overstated.

The county makes the case that 16 positions could be eliminated if the three communities merge but fails to justify how many of those positions could be reduced without affecting services. As an example, the auditor cites the merger of police departments, noting that the county proposes to eliminate two police chief and captain positions, leaving one captain for 71 officers compared to the current ratio of one captain per 36 officers.

In a telephone survey commissioned by Rossmoor officials last spring, most residents in the community opposed the notion of a Supercity. Similarly, the Seal Beach City Council sent a letter to the county formally opposing the Supercity earlier this year.

Seal Beach’s opposition hasn’t wavered, Seal Beach Mayor Pro Tem Gary Miller said Wednesday.

“Seal Beach is not in favor of a Supercity,” he said.