Make RSM the City you Want!

As an original Founder of the City and Candidate for Re-Election to the RSM City Council,when I discuss city finances with people, the most surprising fact to them is how little the city receives from those big property tax checks that are paid twice each year! It is a big shock to most people when I tell them that on average, the city receives only $180 per year in revenue from the property taxes paid by our residents on the average $600,000 home.

The city revenue is the source that pays for the following services to you:

Police and fire services

Child safety officer/school resource officer

Crossing Guards

Street lighting

Street cleaning, maintenance and re-surfacing

Traffic signal maintenance and synchronization

Senior services

All street signs and traffic signs

First response to individual’s tragedies and emergencies

After school programs

Building planning, permits and inspections to ensure safety and beauty in development

Saving for our future infrastructure replacement

City-wide amenities and celebrations such as New Year’s Eve

The offices to conduct this business, our City Hall

Our Community Center

With only $180 per year on average – per each residence and not per person – how DOES the city pay for all these services and not require MORE taxes from our residences or cut services to the community?

It is through sales tax.

Like cities throughout Orange County, our city’s largest source of revenue is sales tax. It is incredibly important that we understand the importance of, maintain and protect this vital source of revenue. One of the reasons that our community is thriving is because the city was planned in such a fashion to enable it to sustain its needs. Rancho Santa Margarita is a Master-Planned community. Every neighborhood, the business park, the auto dealers, amenities and retail centers were carefully designed and strategically located. The quantity and placement of sales tax generating businesses was particularly important. The planners knew that sales tax revenue would be essential to the economic vitality of the city and that residents must have the opportunity to generate the revenue to sustain the city.

Whether you are making a major purchase like a new car or shopping for your weekly groceries, please shop in Rancho Santa Margarita. Every dollar that you spend in the city helps to provide essential services. Support our local merchants and maintain your own high quality of life, by shopping and dining in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Please contact me at carolgamble4RSM.com if you have questions or would like additional information.