The Playa Vista Mello-Roos Number on Your Disclosure Is a Ceiling, Not the Bill

How much Mello-Roos does a home in Playa Vista's first phase actually pay this year? Most buyers find out from a one-page state notice that shows up during escrow. That notice gives the most the tax could be and the latest year it could run. For the first parcel on the City of Los Angeles schedule, Ordinance No. 188974 sets the most it could be at $3,347.21 for fiscal year 2026–27. The latest year it could run is fiscal 2048–49. Neither number is what the owner pays. The same ordinance sets the actual tax on that parcel at $1,323.93, and, according to the City Administrative Officer's August 2024 report, the bonds that tax repays are scheduled to mature on September 1, 2031.

This matters most to a buyer comparing homes inside Playa Vista itself. The City Administrative Officer's September 2013 report shows that only the first phase carries this tax at all. If you weigh a Phase 1 home against one in the Village using the numbers on the form, the difference in carrying costs looks about two and a half times larger than it is, and it seems to last almost two decades longer.

The state form asks for the maximum and nothing else

The model notice in California Government Code §53340.2 is short, and its key line tells you exactly what the seller fills in:

"The maximum special tax that may be levied against this parcel to pay for public facilities is ____ dollars ($ ____) during the __– tax year. This amount will increase by __ percent per year after that (if applicable). The special tax will be levied each year until all of the authorized facilities are built and all special tax bonds are repaid, but in any case not after the __– tax year."

The form has no blank for this year's actual levy. A buyer filling in the blanks correctly for Playa Vista would write down the ceiling, the yearly escalator, and the fiscal 2048–49 outer limit. All three are accurate. None of them is the amount on the tax bill.

On a resale, Civil Code §1102.6b requires the seller to make a good-faith effort to get this notice and hand it over. The same statute allows two other routes, and both are more useful. A notice prepared by a private disclosure company must list the annual tax due for the current year next to the maximum. A copy of the most recent property tax bill also counts as an equivalent disclosure. Which document you get decides which number you see first.

What the city actually levied for 2026–27

Every year the Los Angeles City Council adopts an ordinance that sets the tax for each parcel in Community Facilities District No. 4 (Playa Vista–Phase 1). For fiscal 2026–27 that is Ordinance No. 188974. The council adopted it on June 17, 2026, and it took effect July 21, 2026, under Council File 21-0573-S5. Its Exhibit A lists every Assessor Parcel Number in two columns, the maximum special tax and the special tax actually levied.

Three things stand out in these four columns. The levy is about 40% of the maximum. From one year to the next the maximum went up about 2% while the levy went down about 3%. And the ratio holds across very different parcels: a large parcel on the same schedule, APN 4211-022-023, has a $518,869.06 maximum and a $205,228.68 levy, which is the same 40% or so.

So the ceiling on the disclosure keeps rising each year, and the gap between it and the real bill grows each year too.

Why the bill fell while the ceiling rose

The tax exists to pay off bonds. The City Attorney's May 2026 report says CFD No. 4 was formed to issue Mello-Roos bonds and has collected its special tax every year since fiscal 2002–03 to pay their debt service. The district dates from 1999. It first issued $135 million in bonds in April 2003 and refinanced them with $81.2 million in August 2014.

In September 2024 the city refinanced again, selling $33,105,000 in Series 2024 Special Tax Refunding Bonds to pay off the 2014 series. The City Administrative Officer's August 2024 report said the stated purpose was to lower debt service and "reduce the special tax levied on property owners within the District." It estimated $3.05 million in net present value savings, which it said should average about $945 per household per year, or $5,670 per household over the life of the bonds. Those are district-wide averages projected at the time of sale, so no single parcel's savings is guaranteed to match them. By December 2025, the city's own procurement documents put the outstanding principal at about $27.12 million.

The maximum comes from the formula set when the district was formed and climbs on its own schedule. The actual levy reflects what the city collects each year to pay the bonds. That explains why the two numbers moved in opposite directions this year. The 2026–27 Budget and Finance Committee report says neither the CAO nor the Chief Legislative Analyst completed a financial analysis of this year's levy, so the public record has no line-by-line explanation of the per-parcel math.

Two end dates, and the nearer one is tied to the debt

The disclosure's outer limit, fiscal 2048–49, is real. The city's December 2025 summary says the CFD No. 4 levy "shall not extend beyond Fiscal Year 2048-49." The same paragraph says the Series 2024 bonds are scheduled to be paid off in 2031. The CAO's refinancing report sets their final maturity at September 1, 2031.

Each year's levy ordinance explains how the two dates relate. The council's earlier Ordinance No. 174037 authorized the special tax "on an annual basis until the underlying indebtedness of the District is paid off or as otherwise provided in the Ordinance of Formation." That ties the authorization to the debt. The last clause leaves room for the formation ordinance, No. 172952, to say something different. The public record reviewed here does not settle that, so a buyer should treat 2031 as the scheduled end of the bonds rather than a promised end of the tax.

Even with that caveat, the two framings are far apart. One is a tax of about $1,300 a year on a typical early parcel, backed by bonds that are scheduled to be gone in roughly five years. The other is a ceiling above $3,300 that rises every year for more than two decades.

The Village never had this tax line

When Playa Vista's Mello-Roos financing was first set up, a single district covered every phase. A September 2013 CAO report traces the history. CFD No. 2 was formed in 1995 to cover all phases of development. In 1999 it was dissolved and split into CFD Nos. 4, 5 and 6 to match the planned phases. Only CFD No. 4 ever issued bonds. In CFDs 5 and 6, "bonds were never issued and special taxes were never levied." The owners listed in those districts included Playa Runway LP, Tri-Pointe Homes LLC, and Playa Vista Phase 2 LLC. The council dissolved CFD No. 5 (Playa Vista–Master Plan) and CFD No. 6 (The Campus at Playa Vista) by Ordinances 182745 and 182746. Both took effect November 18, 2013.

The Village, which City Planning's environmental review describes as a separate 111-acre component with 2,600 dwelling units plus office, retail and community uses, sits outside the one Playa Vista CFD that still levies a tax. That does not mean every Village parcel has no assessments of any kind. It means the special tax Playa Vista is known for applies to the first phase.

For a buyer pricing a Phase 1 home against a Village home, the real Mello-Roos gap on a parcel like the first one on the schedule is about $1,300 for 2026–27, with the bonds behind it scheduled to mature in 2031. The form puts the gap at more than $3,300, growing every year until 2048–49.

What to request before the contingency clock runs

1. The parcel's line in the current levy ordinance. Look up the APN in Exhibit A of Ordinance No. 188974 to see both the maximum and the amount actually levied for 2026–27.
2. The most recent property tax bill. Under §1102.6b, the bill counts as an equivalent disclosure, and it shows the amount charged.
3. A private disclosure report. If one is used, it must include the current-year tax next to the maximum, the yearly escalator, and the last year the tax can be levied.
4. Prepayment status. The ordinance does not levy the tax on any parcel where it "has been prepaid, discharged, and permanently satisfied."
5. Association documents, as a separate item. Playa Vista's community site lists Playa Vista Parks and Landscape Corporation as the master association. Its dues are not part of the CFD levy.

Timing matters. When the §53340.2 notice arrives, the buyer can cancel in writing within three days if it was handed over in person, or within five days after it was mailed. If a disclosure is delivered after the offer is signed, Civil Code §1102.3 gives three days after in-person delivery, or five days after mailing or agreed electronic delivery. That is not much time to work out the difference between a ceiling and a bill, so the documents above are best requested before the notice arrives. None of this is tax or legal advice. For a specific property, confirm the figures with the escrow officer or a qualified advisor.

A few questions buyers ask

Can the actual levy go up toward the maximum? The maximum is the legal limit, and the city adopts a new levy every year. The 2026–27 levy came in lower than 2025–26 on the parcels above, but each new ordinance sets that year's amount.

Did every Phase 1 owner save $945 a year from the 2024 refinancing? That figure was the CAO's projected average per household when the bonds were sold. To see what an individual parcel actually paid, compare its lines in Ordinance 188670 for 2025–26 and Ordinance 188974 for 2026–27.

Does the tax definitely stop in 2031? The bonds are scheduled to mature on September 1, 2031, and the tax is authorized until the district's debt is paid off, unless the formation ordinance provides otherwise. The outer limit on any levy is fiscal 2048–49.

If you're weighing a Phase 1 home against one in the Village, or preparing to sell a home where the buyer will see that ceiling figure first, The Zebrowski Group can look up the parcel's actual levy and include it in the pricing conversation from the start. Request a private market valuation.