California Mello-Roos by County: Debt & Delinquency
California's 1,227 Mello-Roos Community Facilities Districts — across 35 counties that report to the state — carry about $17.07 billion in outstanding bond debt and levy roughly $1.35B a year in special taxes on top of the 1% Proposition 13 rate. About 4.2% of that annual levy goes unpaid (17,443 delinquent parcels). Below, every county ranked by Mello-Roos debt, with its delinquency.
District-level figures from the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC), reporting year 2024-25. Aggregates only — no parcel or owner data.
Highest Mello-Roos delinquency by county
By share of the annual special tax left unpaid (2024-25, counties with 3+ CFDs): Los Angeles 35.9%, Stanislaus 20.2%, Nevada 20.1%, Imperial 12.5%, Placer 10.1%. A high county rate is usually driven by one or two troubled districts — open the county page to see which CFD. Most counties run under 1% unpaid.
Every California county with Mello-Roos, ranked by debt
| County | CFDs | Bond debt | Annual special tax | % unpaid | Delinquent parcels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside | 492 | $3.81B | $263M | 0.9% | 2,361 |
| Orange | 66 | $2.79B | $183M | 0.8% | 701 |
| San Joaquin | 52 | $1.54B | $128M | 0.7% | 1,027 |
| Sacramento | 62 | $1.39B | $102M | 0.5% | 1,400 |
| San Bernardino | 140 | $1.21B | $99M | 0.8% | 612 |
| San Diego | 76 | $1.08B | $109M | 0.5% | 521 |
| San Francisco | 9 | $1.01B | $87M | 0.4% | 65 |
| Placer | 59 | $982M | $63M | 10.1% | 365 |
| Los Angeles | 56 | $827M | $98M | 35.9% | 3,015 |
| Alameda | 14 | $347M | $20M | 0.9% | 79 |
| Kern | 10 | $251M | $22M | 0.4% | 163 |
| Ventura | 16 | $248M | $20M | 1% | 124 |
| Solano | 16 | $241M | $15M | 2.3% | 255 |
| Yolo | 34 | $221M | $29M | 0.9% | 288 |
| Stanislaus | 17 | $181M | $21M | 20.2% | 426 |
| Contra Costa | 20 | $144M | $16M | 0.5% | 109 |
| El Dorado | 8 | $112M | $12M | 1.8% | 3,678 |
| Yuba | 12 | $92M | $5.0M | 0.5% | 55 |
| San Mateo | 4 | $82M | $7.1M | 0.1% | 45 |
| Napa | 4 | $68M | $5.5M | 0% | 1 |
| Sonoma | 4 | $62M | $2.7M | 0.6% | 67 |
| Santa Cruz | 3 | $61M | $5.5M | 2% | 1,351 |
| Madera | 5 | $54M | $3.4M | 0.5% | 30 |
| Imperial | 13 | $47M | $4.8M | 12.5% | 135 |
| Monterey | 3 | $47M | $7.0M | 0.1% | 8 |
| Marin | 9 | $46M | $7.8M | 0.8% | 482 |
| Nevada | 3 | $33M | $4.4M | 20.1% | 14 |
| Fresno | 5 | $32M | $1.2M | 0.5% | 21 |
| Santa Clara | 5 | $25M | $2.8M | 0.1% | 2 |
| San Luis Obispo | 2 | $22M | $1.3M | 0% | 0 |
| Merced | 3 | $13M | $1.4M | 0.4% | 16 |
| Sutter | 2 | $6.0M | $350K | 3.9% | 2 |
| Mono | 1 | $4.0M | $531K | 0.4% | 6 |
| Amador | 1 | $2.9M | $202K | 0% | 2 |
| Calaveras | 1 | $957K | $487K | 15.9% | 17 |
Source: California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) — Mello-Roos CFD Yearly Fiscal Status Reports (2024-25). Counties are linked where we publish a full district list. Los Angeles and Sacramento also have a fuller Auditor direct-assessment list on their county pages, so their CFD counts here (CDIAC) are lower. 6 CFDs that span more than one county are excluded from the per-county totals.
What this means for a homebuyer
A Mello-Roos special tax is separate from your Proposition 13 ad-valorem tax and is set by each district's Rate and Method of Apportionment — a flat charge, not a percentage of your home's value. Whether you pay it depends entirely on the parcel: two similar homes a block apart can differ by thousands a year if one sits inside a CFD. Before buying in a newer California development, check the parcel's tax bill for a Mello-Roos line and find the district in the county list below.
Mello-Roos vs. your Proposition 13 tax
The 1% Proposition 13 base plus voter-approved debt is value-based and countywide. A Mello-Roos / CFD special tax applies only to parcels inside the district and is a flat charge. See what Mello-Roos is and how Proposition 13 sets the rest of your bill.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much Mello-Roos debt does California have?
Across the 35 counties that report Community Facilities Districts to the state (CDIAC, reporting year 2024-25), 1,227 Mello-Roos CFDs carry about $17.07 billion in outstanding bond debt and levy roughly $1.35B in special taxes each year. About 4.2% of that annual levy goes unpaid, across 17,443 delinquent parcels.
Which California county has the most Mello-Roos districts?
Riverside County has the most, with 492 reporting CFDs — far more than any other county. Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Sacramento and Placer counties follow. Mello-Roos is concentrated in fast-growing areas that built new infrastructure with CFD bonds since the 1980s.
Which county has the highest Mello-Roos delinquency?
By the share of the annual special tax left unpaid, Los Angeles County is highest at about 35.9%, followed by Stanislaus (20.2%) and Nevada (20.1%). A high rate is often driven by one or two troubled districts rather than the whole county, so open the county page to see which CFD. Most counties run under 1% unpaid.
What is Mello-Roos?
Mello-Roos is a special tax authorized by California's Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 (Gov. Code §53311). A Community Facilities District (CFD) — a city, school district, or county — levies it on parcels inside the district to repay bonds for infrastructure or services. It is billed on top of the 1% Proposition 13 ad-valorem rate as a flat charge, not based on your home's value. See our full Mello-Roos explainer for how it works.
Where does this data come from?
The California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) collects a Yearly Fiscal Status Report from every Mello-Roos issuer. These are district-level aggregates for reporting year 2024-25 — bond debt, annual special tax levied vs. unpaid, and delinquent parcel counts — self-reported by issuers. Los Angeles and Sacramento also publish a fuller Auditor direct-assessment list, linked on their county pages, so their CFD counts here (CDIAC) are lower than those pages show.
Learn More
California-specific educational information, not advice. Figures are self-reported by issuers to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) for reporting year 2024-25 and are aggregates only — no parcel or owner identities. A county's delinquency rate can be driven by a single district; confirm any parcel's Mello-Roos on your county tax bill and with the district.