If voters approve a county split, the South Coast will be saddled with all the county's $43 million in existing capital debt, leaving the proposed Mission County relatively debt free.
The Mission County Formation Review Commission made that decision Monday, reasoning that the value of buildings and property in the south is higher, and that the square footage of buildings located in Mission County will be far less than those located in the south.
The action came after about a half-dozen previous meetings where the five-member panel wrestled with how to make sure the proposed new county receives a "fair, just and equitable" division of assets and debt.
Third District Supervisor Gail Marshall, whose district straddles both the north and south, groaned when she heard the decision.
"That's just unconscionable," she said.
"It isn't fair, just or equitable. For those individuals who feel the county should be split north/south, then they should be responsible for the capital debt in that portion of the county. That's only fair."
The county is already paying for the split study, she said, "and now we're paying more than our fair share of debt? It doesn't go down well with me."