After copious research following a few complaints from Rossmoor about being charged excessive sales tax, OC supervisor Katrina Foley concluded what everybody around here already knew — the error was due to the fact that the two communities shared the same zip code.
This “flaw” comes up over and over — just look at the wide discrepancy in Covid numbers in Los Alamitos and Rossmoor. Rossmoor has one of the smallest rates in the state, but just across the Boulevard Los Al’s rates are ten times its neighboring unincorporated area. Part of this can be explained by the two SNF’s (skilled nursing facilities, ie senior assisted living facilities) but a large part is due to Rossmoor residents writing down they live in 90720 and even that they live in Los Alamitos. County workers in Santa Ana have no idea that Silver Fox Drive or even parts of Harrisburg are technically in Rossmoor, not Los Alamitos.
Anyway, Patch has all the details on the recent sales tax affair.
