How do two homes with the same listing price end up costing their owners different amounts every single month, for decades, before either family has hung a single picture?
In June 2023, the Dublin City Council spent part of a meeting deciding exactly that question for a neighborhood that didn't exist yet. Trumark, the developer building the 573-unit East Ranch project east of Fallon Road, had proposed a special tax on future homeowners ranging from $1,395 to $5,543 per unit depending on lot size and unit type, with the total effective tax rate landing between 1.58% and 1.61% of the home's price. Councilmember Kashef Qaadri said he was uncomfortable with the whole idea of taxing some Dublin residents more than others. Mayor Melissa Hernandez pushed back that the housing crisis and the need to attract developers left the city with few better options. A resident named Tom Evans told the council that developers already know their upfront costs and shouldn't be passing more of them onto buyers. The council approved the district anyway, capping the total rate at 1.60%.
None of the families who eventually bought those East Ranch homes were in that room. But the number that came out of that meeting is now sitting on their property tax bill, and it will keep showing up there for years.
The Law That Made This Possible
The mechanism goes back to 1978, when California voters passed Proposition 13 and capped the base property tax rate at 1% of assessed value, with annual increases limited to 2%. That protected homeowners from runaway tax bills, but it also cut off the funding cities had relied on to build the roads, parks, and sewer lines new development requires. In 1982, the state legislature answered with the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act, which lets a city form a Community Facilities District, or CFD, and issue bonds against a special tax levied only on the parcels inside it.
That special tax isn't calculated as a percentage of the home's value. Each CFD sets its own formula, called a Rate and Method of Apportionment, usually based on square footage, lot size, or unit type. Because it isn't tied to assessed value, it doesn't get the 1% ceiling your base property tax does, and it doesn't shrink if the market cools the way your base tax effectively does.
The City of Dublin currently has three of these districts and one more in the works, each one the product of a separate negotiation between a builder and the council, which is why the dollar figures look nothing alike from one East Dublin tract to the next.
Three Neighborhoods, Three Very Different Deals
| Development | District | Documented Annual Tax | Status as of late 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin Crossing ("The Boulevard") | CFD No. 2015-1 (facilities) plus CFD No. 2017-1 (services) | $3,912 to $5,830 per single-family home in FY2024-25; one parcel owed $5,048 combined across both districts in FY2025-26 | Active; scheduled to stop levying after fiscal year 2050-51 |
| East Ranch | CFD No. 2023-1 | $1,395 to $5,543 per unit as proposed, with a total effective tax rate of roughly 1.58% to 1.61% of home price | Approved by council in 2023; homes under construction |
| Dublin Centre | Proposed CFD No. 2024-1 | Not yet finalized; the city has retained Goodwin Consulting Group as its special tax consultant | Proposed; the underlying Development Agreement was amended on July 21, 2026, with Risewell Homes and Trumark Homes building on the site now, including 15 single-family homes north of Gleason Drive |
Dublin Crossing is the clearest documented case because its bonds have been outstanding the longest. Homes there carry two overlapping special taxes rather than one, a facilities charge that pays down infrastructure bonds and a separate services charge layered on top, which is how a single parcel ends up owing a combined $5,048 in one fiscal year.
East Ranch shows the negotiation happening in the open. The council also flagged a separate dispute during that same debate: Trumark had agreed to contribute $4.7 million toward two neighborhood parks that were actually expected to cost more than $11 million to build, with the city left to cover the gap in maintenance once the parks opened. That kind of detail matters because it shows the special tax isn't just paying for the house you're buying. It's paying for a negotiated split of costs between the builder and the city, and the terms of that split show up on your tax bill for as long as the bonds are outstanding.
Dublin Centre is the newest entry, and it's still being written. Because CFD No. 2024-1 remains proposed rather than finalized, a buyer looking at homes there today is essentially watching the East Ranch negotiation happen again in real time, just with different players and an outcome that isn't locked in yet.
Why the Charge Doesn't Move When the Market Does
A Mello-Roos special tax is a fixed obligation of the parcel, not the person who happens to own it. When you buy a home inside one of these districts, you're not just buying the structure and the lot. You're assuming a lien that was recorded before you ever looked at the listing, and it transfers with the sale the same way an HOA obligation does.
Most CFD bonds run 20 to 40 years from formation, and the tax typically stops once those bonds are retired. For Dublin Crossing's CFD No. 2015-1, that means no special tax after fiscal year 2050-51. That's useful information, but it's also decades away for most buyers, which is why the remaining term matters more than the fact that a term exists at all. Some districts allow the maximum tax to escalate up to 2% a year, so a figure you see on a listing today can be lower than what you'll actually owe in year five.
What This Does to Your Loan Before You Even Own the House
Mortgage lenders don't treat Mello-Roos as an optional add-on. When a lender calculates your housing expense ratio and debt-to-income ratio, the special tax gets folded in alongside principal, interest, base property tax, and any HOA dues. In CFD-heavy tracts, the combined effective property tax rate, meaning the base 1% plus every special assessment layered on top, can land at 1.5% to 1.7% of the purchase price, compared with the 1.1% to 1.3% that's typical where no CFD exists. East Ranch's own staff report put its number at 1.58% to 1.61%, right in that band.
The other place this surfaces is on your federal return, and it's more restrictive than most buyers expect. Generally, only the portion of a tax bill based on assessed value qualifies for the standard property tax deduction, and Mello-Roos is typically a flat parcel charge rather than a value-based one. There's a narrow exception for the share of an assessment that funds ongoing maintenance or interest rather than new construction, but documenting that split falls on the taxpayer. With the SALT cap raised to $40,000 for 2026, more California homeowners may reach the point where this distinction is worth pursuing, but it's a conversation for a CPA who can review the actual CFD documents, not an assumption to make from the listing sheet.
The One Document That Tells You the Truth
The city's own guidance is direct about this: because the amount actually levied in a given year can run below the maximum allowed rate, a buyer or seller shouldn't rely on the number shown on the current property tax bill for disclosure purposes. The Rate and Method of Apportionment document for the specific district, plus the preliminary title report, are what actually tell you the formula, the escalation schedule, and how many years are left. Dublin's CFD administrator, Goodwin Consulting Group, handles prepayment questions for owners who want to pay off their share of the remaining bond balance and eliminate the annual charge entirely.
The pattern shows up most often at the wrong moment. A buyer finds a home priced within budget, writes an offer, and only after contingencies are removed does the prelim reveal the special tax district and its actual dollar figure. By then, backing out costs more than living with the number would have.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Before You Write an Offer
Does the Mello-Roos amount show up in the MLS listing? Sometimes, as a line item or disclosure note, but it should always be verified independently against the county tax bill and the CFD's formation documents rather than taken at face value.
Can I negotiate the special tax down? No. The rate is fixed by the CFD's formula, not by the seller or the listing agent. What you can negotiate is the purchase price itself, accounting for what that ongoing obligation actually costs you over the years you plan to own the home.
Does it ever go away? Yes, once the bonds that funded the district are paid off, though that can be decades out depending on when the district was formed. Some CFDs also allow individual owners to prepay their remaining share and end the obligation early.
If you're comparing new construction across Dublin Crossing, East Ranch, or the homes now going up around Dublin Centre, the price on the sign is only part of the number that matters. Linda Traurig has spent years walking Tri-Valley buyers through preliminary title reports before they write an offer, not after. If you're weighing a home in one of these districts, reach out and she'll help you read the actual tax picture before it becomes a surprise.
