APARTMENT OWNERS FIGHT ANTI-SLUM FEE.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer A group of apartment owners has sued the city of Los Angeles
An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been charging a $1-per-month fee for inspections violates Proposition 218's requirement for new fees to be put on the ballot. ``It's a new tax without our vote,'' said Mary Ellen Hughes, executive director of the Apartment Association of San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. Valley/Ventura, a group of 4,000 Valley landlords. ``I think all these new taxes that are put on our properties should be put before the voters.'' Hughes' group joined the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association helped sponsor Proposition 13, the property tax-cutting initiative in California in 1978 which slashed property taxes by fifty-seven percent and initiated a national tax revolt. It was founded by California republican Howard Jarvis. in filing the lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeking an injunction blocking enforcement of the ordinance. The City Council approved the ordinance July 7 as part of an anti-slum program, in which a $1-per-month fee will be charged to every apartment to pay for a team of 64 inspectors to examine all apartments at least once every three years. The lawsuit alleges that the ordinance violates Proposition 218, a tax-limitation measure approved by state voters in 1996 that requires new fees to be submitted for a majority vote of affected property owners or a two-thirds vote of the electorate. Councilman Mike Feuer said the City Attorney's Office assured the council that its action complied with Proposition 218 requirements for public notice of the fee. Representatives of the City Attorney's Office did not return calls to respond to the lawsuit. Feuer said the program is an important effort to reduce slum slum Densely populated area of substandard housing, usually in a city, characterized by unsanitary conditions and social disorganization. Rapid industrialization in 19th-century Europe was accompanied by rapid population growth and the concentration of working-class people housing in Los Angeles. ``The fee is absolutely critical to assure that apartments are inspected to make sure that there is high-quality, healthful health·ful adj. 1. Conducive to good health; salutary. 2. Healthy. health  ful·ness n. housing
opportunities for people,'' he said.
The apartment-owner groups also have asked the courts to determine that the city adopted the fee without complying with state laws requiring environmental impact studies. The ordinance could increase the city's vacancy rate significantly and will reduce the amount of affordable housing built to accommodate the city's low-income residents, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Charles Isham, an executive vice president of the 25,000-member Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles. ``This ordinance is going to be a constraint on the development of affordable hosing,'' Isham said. |
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