Welcome to the Capistrano Bay Community Services District Website
In 1959 the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the request of the Beach Road property owners to convert the community into a Special Government District and approved the formation of the Capistrano Bay Community Services District. The Capistrano Bay District or simply “The District” is a true government agency formed under the laws of the California Government Code, specifically Section 61000. A five-member Board of Directors is elected at large and serves four year terms. The day to day operations are supervised by a full time General Manager. Established to provide community services much like a municipality, the District is charged with providing the following municipal services:
- Trash collection
- Street lighting
- Road and appurtenant infrastructure maintenance/repair/replacement
- Flood control and flood control system O&M
- Police protection to safeguard life and property
The District receives a percentage of the property taxes generated from the community to fund its operations. Prior to 1982, the revenue from property taxes was adequate to cover all District operating expenses. However, in 1982 the State Legislature cut the revenue for all Special Districts and the Capistrano Bay District was forced to either cut services or make up the shortfall through the process of assessing a new fee over and above that of property taxes. Thus came about the establishment of the District User Fee which has been in place ever since. Currently, the District’s income is made up of a combined total of property taxes and user fee revenue.
The District is a non-profit or “non-enterprise” local government agency that does not have the ability to charge rates for its services and is restricted to collecting User Fees only for the cost of providing the services, without a charge for profit. This is unlike the structure and organization of municipal sewer or water districts which are considered “enterprise districts” and are allowed by law to charge rates over and above the cost of providing the service.
In 2003 the District formed an Assessment District (AD99-1) to generate the capital and completely replaced the roadway, the curbs, the gutters and the storm drain system. Property owners in the Beach Road community were each assessed a portion of the total cost of the $1.4M project. To assist in the funding of any future road construction projects, a special Heavy Vehicle Impact Fee is now being assessed on home construction and remodel projects. Funds generated from this program are accumulating in a reserve fund to be used specifically for road-related repair and maintenance projects as the road begins to show wear and tear from continual use.
