Why would the Chula Vista City Council vote to bring the Mills Act here?
Because it’s very smart. By giving back a percentage of tax money, it creates incentive to restore older properties. A Mills Act contract reduces the amount of property tax collected by the city, but the city doesn’t miss very much money. That’s because for every dollar of property tax collected, about 85 cents or so goes directly to the County of San Diego. It is the County Assessor’s Office that calculates the tax savings for Mills Act contracts. And the County knows that restoring historic buildings is good for everybody’s property values. The homeowner wins, Chula Vista wins, and the neighborhood wins. Do other local cities have the Mills Act? Yes. The Mills Act has been very successful in the cities of San Diego, Escondido, and La Mesa. Recently, the city of Coronado has adopted the legislation. Currntly, there are about approximately 200 buildings within San Diego County that are under Mills Act contract. Will any old building qualify for the Mills Act? No. In order to qualify, t
