If Elk Grove Political Hacks Can't Get Money Directly in Their Pockets, The City Treasury is The Next Best Thing
Mello Roos fees are life-sustaining revenues for the city hall political hacks
For people who have lived in Elk Grove for any length of time - especially since the pre-2000 city incorporation - California Highway 99 has been a borderline.
That borderline has represented many things. The most obvious is that the old, downtrodden, and ignored part of Elk Grove lies to the east, and the newer, more sparkling version in the city's Laguna community lies to the west.
A good example is comparing strip shopping centers that dominate Elk Grove landscapes.
To the west are the new shopping centers, including the Costco-anchored development, The Ridge, and the soon-to-open Landings, which reportedly will feature a Whole Foods outlet. While some of the shopping centers west of Hwy. 99 are pre-2000; all of the new large, sales-tax-revenue-generating shopping centers are here.
Conversely, all of the shopping centers of significance east of Hwy. 99 were built before the city's year 2000 incorporation. West of Hwy. 99 will be a Whole Foods, while the east side is home to the budget-conscious Grocery Outlet, whose space was built pre-2000 incorporation.
Or take Elk Grove's first commercial shopping center, which opened almost 70 years ago in 1956, the Elk Grove Shopping Center on Elk Grove-Florin Road. The property is old and no longer really utilized as a shopping center.
Why is any of this significant?
Aside from the large centers generating significantly more sales-tax revenue than their smaller counterparts on the east side, they are also subject to higher property taxes. Those higher taxes, known as Mello Roos fees, are life-sustaining revenues for the city hall political hacks.
Like the old shopping strip centers, such as the Elk Grove Shopping Center, and almost all residential dwellings (houses, apartments) east of Hwy. 99, and some in the older sections of Laguna, are exempt from the city's outrageously high Mello Roos taxes because they were built pre-2000 incorporation. Given that the residential area, east of Hwy. 99 are exempt from the politician-fed Mello Roos fees, the city has a vast, untapped area to exploit for their purposes if they so choose.
The Ridge and the soon-to-open Landings are golden children. Older strip centers that generate little sales tax revenue, like the Elk Grove Shopping Center, are the children shipped off to the orphanage, while other larger retail properties that generate sales tax revenues but don't pay Mello Roos fees are like the drunken brother-in-law who you tolerate once a year but would rather be replaced by a better version who doesn't leave you with the bar tab.
As 2025 fades into 2026, do not discount that, without exception, every development-related action that appears before Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and her four city council members, notwithstanding bowing to political contributors, is in pursuit of two actions - increased sales tax and Mello Roos tax revenue.
Always remember this about Elk Grove elected officials without exception - if they can't get money handed to them directly, the next best thing is to have the cash funneled to the city treasury to advance their careers - constituents be damned.
