Mello-Roos in Mountain House: the actual rates, and why there are two
Almost every explanation of Mello-Roos in Mountain House misses something important: a home here carries two separate special taxes, levied by two different agencies, on two completely different formulas. Most buyers find the second one on their first tax bill.
Here are the published rates, where they come from, and what they add up to on a typical home.
What a CFD actually is
A Community Facilities District — Mello-Roos, after the 1982 act that created them — lets a local agency levy an annual special tax on properties in a defined area, to repay bonds that paid for infrastructure. Schools, roads, parks, public safety.
It sits on your county property tax bill alongside the ordinary ad-valorem tax, but it is not a percentage of your home's value. It's calculated on its own formula — usually square footage — which is why two similar homes on the same street can pay noticeably different amounts.
It's disclosed during the purchase. But it appears as one line among many in a thick pack of paperwork, and buyers routinely sign without registering what it means monthly.
The part that catches people: a CFD is not a percentage of value, it doesn't fall when the market falls, and in Mountain House it rises 2% automatically every year — for decades. The districts here run out between 2050-51 and 2075-76.
The two taxes, side by side
Different agencies, different formulas, same tax bill.
Lammersville Unified School District CFD
Funds the schools built as Mountain House grew. Charged as a flat annual amount, tiered by lot size — above or below 6,000 sq ft. Five separate districts exist; which one applies depends on when and where your home was built.
MHCSD services special tax
Levied by the Mountain House Community Services District for roads, public safety, parks and public works. Charged per 100 sq ft of both your lot and your living area, across those four categories separately. This is the one people don't know exists.
The actual rates
These are published by the agencies themselves. Sources at the bottom of the page.
1 · Lammersville school district CFD
| District | Lot ≥ 6,000 sq ft |
| CFD 2002 · 2007-1 · 2014-1 | $2,122.50 |
| CFD 2019-1 · 2024-1 | $2,607.52 |
| Lot under 6,000 sq ft | |
| CFD 2002 · 2007-1 · 2014-1 | $1,537.48 |
| CFD 2019-1 · 2024-1 | $2,017.10 |
Rises 2% automatically each fiscal year. No exemptions or discounts are available. Final year by district: 2050-51 (2007-1), 2063-64 (2002), 2065-66 (2014-1), 2070-71 (2019-1), 2075-76 (2024-1).
2 · MHCSD services special tax
Charged per 100 sq ft, on both lot area and living area, in four categories.
| Per 100 sq ft | Roads · Safety · Parks · Works |
| Lot area — lot under 6,000 sq ft | $5.99 · $2.94 · $0.58 · $0.58 |
| Lot area — lot 6,000 sq ft or more | $0.94 · $0.45 · $0.13 · $0.13 |
| Living area — all homes | $34.28 · $17.63 · $2.94 · $3.14 |
Note the structure: smaller lots pay a much higher rate per square foot of land — roughly six times more — while the living-area rate is the same for everyone. These rates were board-approved in June 2019 and are the most recent the District publishes. Worth confirming directly for a specific purchase.
A 2,400 sq ft home on a 5,500 sq ft lot
A common configuration in the newer Mountain House phases. Assume it sits in CFD 2019-1.
| Lammersville CFD 2019-1 — lot under 6,000 sq ft | $2,017.10 |
| MHCSD roads | $1,152.17 |
| MHCSD public safety | $584.82 |
| MHCSD parks | $102.46 |
| MHCSD public works | $107.26 |
| Total special taxes, per year | $3,963.81 |
| Per month | $327.02 |
That $327 a month is on top of your mortgage, your ordinary property tax, and your insurance. On a 30-year loan at 6.5%, it's roughly the same as borrowing an extra $51,000 — except it never amortises away, and it rises 2% a year.
What the 2% escalator does
Because the tax rises 2% compounding every year, the figure you see at purchase is the lowest you will ever pay.
| Year 1 | $3,964 |
| Year 5 | $4,291 |
| Year 10 | $4,737 |
| Year 20 | $5,775 |
| Paid over 20 years | $96,310 |
None of this makes Mountain House a bad buy. Those taxes paid for the schools, the roads and the parks that make it what it is. The point is simply to know the number before you commit — and to compare homes on total monthly cost rather than list price.
Why this matters to a seller too
These two taxes set a ceiling on what a buyer can afford to pay for your home. Two similar houses on this street can carry a different annual bill, and the one with the higher assessment has a smaller pool of buyers who qualify. Pricing without working that out first is how a Mountain House listing sits.
It also decides how the home should be presented. A buyer who discovers the second special tax late in escrow renegotiates or walks; a buyer who was told the real figure up front does neither. I put it in the marketing from day one.
How I price and market a home →
For a specific homeHow to check before you offer
1 · The disclosure pack
California requires CFD taxes to be disclosed during the purchase. Ask specifically for the Notice of Special Tax — it names the district and the current amount.
2 · The county tax bill
San Joaquin County shows each special tax as a separate line item. The prior year's bill is the cleanest evidence of what you'll actually pay.
3 · Ask the districts
Lammersville publishes its CFD rates and district map. MHCSD publishes the services tax schedule by parcel. Both will confirm a specific address.
4 · Or send me the address
I'll pull the district, the parcel figures and the actual prior-year bill, and give you the total monthly cost. No charge and no obligation.
Ask about a specific home →Where these figures come from
Every number on this page is from a primary source. If you find one out of date, tell me and I'll correct it.
- Lammersville Unified School District — Community Facilities Districts page, fiscal year 2026/27 rate table, sunset dates and the 2% escalator.
- Mountain House Community Services District — Special Taxes Info, rate schedule by lot and living area, board-approved 14 June 2019.
- San Joaquin County Auditor-Controller — Multi-Year Tax Rates, tax year 2025, published 10 September 2025, for the underlying ad-valorem rates.
Rates change. CFD amounts rise annually and the county publishes a new rate book each September. This page was last checked in August 2026. Nothing here is tax advice — verify against the disclosure pack and the county bill for any specific property, and speak to a qualified tax professional about your own position.