A Rossmoor Community Services District Director, who is also an online merchant, says he thinks the lack of Rossmoor having its own zip code is costing residents between $150 -200,000 per year.
Director Michael Maynard announced at the RCSD’s June meeting that he will personally be reaching out to the U.S. Post Office and Congresswoman Michelle Steel to fix a growing problem of Rossmoor residents being forced to pay Los Al’s 1.5 percent sales tax when they purchase goods online.
During the personal comment section of the Board of Directors’ June meeting, he announced to his fellow Directors and the public to say, “I have a plan that I think would work.”
Maynard, who owns a “direct to consumer” brand, said he will be doing the project not as an RCSD Director, but “this is Michael as a consumer.”
Rossmoor residents once had their own zip code, 90721, said Maynard, but “back in the ’80s, with its own post office somewhere near the parking lot of Farmers & Merchants Bank.
“At one point in the 80s, the post office said we don’t need both (zip codes), so it went away, and the post office began pushing everything to 90720, the general Los Alamitos zip code, which is next door.
Fast forward to 2023, and while most Rossmoor residents are lumped into the 90720-zip code, they are now being charged the 1.5 sales tax now effective in the City of Los Alamitos.
Maynard, who said he is associated with the Shopify corporation, said most online purchases made from Rossmoor are automatically, and wrongfully charged the Los Al sales tax because they are in that zip code, even though technically, they live in Rossmoor and should not be charged.
Some of the Amazon computers are more sophisticated and able to tell the difference, he estimated that at least 50 percent of the Amazon customers in Rossmoor are also wrongfully charged the sales tax.
“I am doing this because I think it is wrong,” said Maynard, estimating Rossmoor residents are wrongfully charged between $150 – 200,000 per year. Maynard did not explain his rationale for the estimation but said “I think there is a fix for it.”
He hinted that his plan could result in the reactivation of the former Rossmoor zip code, 90721, but it will take some work with Steel’s office and the USPS, “because it is a post office thing.”
By the way, the Rossmoor zip code still works, he said, if residents use it.
RCSD President Tony DeMarco asked the district’s attorney Tarquin Preziosi whether the district or its residents would have any leverage with Los Al to have improperly assessed sales taxes refunded.
Maynard’s suggestion “has merit,” said Preziosi, however, he suggested that the matter would likely be determined to be “a private matter” between the merchant and the wrongly taxed residents.
“Changing the zip code may fix that glitch, so to speak,” he said, noting “it is a complicated question.”
Director Jo Shade, a real estate professional, said “in our industry, that is something we stress. You should also use Rossmoor in everything you fill out to avoid that issue,” she said.
“It is a very interesting discussion,” said DeMarco.
In other action, the Directors discussed making changes to its budget procedures so that a final vote on its fiscal year budget occurs before July. The RCSD is expected to approve its fiscal year budget at its next meeting in July.
In executive session, the board voted 4-0 to approve a one-time performance pay raise of $7,500 for General Manager Joe Mendoza and they approved bonuses for district employees not to exceed $9,100 as a special committee will work out the details and amounts for each employee.
