Lompoc is facing a severe budgetary problem, and as a result, vital services like police protection are severely curtailed. So far, there have been seven murders in Lompoc, perhaps somewhat due to a lack of policemen.
So why does Lompoc charge new home builders so much less for connection fees for new houses than neighboring communities? This means the residents of Lompoc face a severe budget crisis due to a loss of about $2 million on just the new proposed Burton Ranch housing development alone.
Do all Lompoc residents really wish to be forced to pay an additional sales tax due to severe cutbacks on public safety while builders get a sweetheart $2 million more profits. The $2 million flows right out of average Lompoc residents’ pockets right into the wealthy builders’ pockets!
Details: Lompoc only charges new home builders a $10,579 connection fee per home, Vandenberg Village charges builders $14,861 for the same services, and Mission Hills charges builders $16,218. Note, the proposed Burton Ranch project is for almost 500 new connections, or roughly 500 multiplied by $5,500, or more than $2 million savings going into the builders’ pockets.
Do you realize that Vandenberg Village charges builders at least $1,100 per home more than Lompoc to connect to the sewer, but they both use the exact same sewer plant. This example shows how for the Burton Ranch case, Lompoc citizens are being asked to subsidize builders by about $500,000 for the exact same services compared to the fiscally sound Vandenberg Village citizens.
Lompoc City Council needs to stop giving sweetheart deals to builders while letting Lompoc citizens pay higher taxes. Let’s stop the money flowing from our pocketbooks straight into the builders’ pockets. Vandenberg Village and Mission Hills are fiscally sound; Lompoc’s poor fiscal management is only hurting its own taxpayers.
This is how the city of Lompoc can be $2 million ahead. Start charging the “going rates” to builders.
Michael Donohue
Lompoc
This article appears in Nov 14-21, 2019.