CITY GIVES $25,000 FOR STUDY POTENTIAL ANNEXATION IS TO BE FOCUS OF INQUIRY.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- With communities on the Santa Clarita Valley's west side poised to study whether forming a city makes sense, the Santa Clarita City Council on Tuesday pledged $25,000 toward a welcome mat: an annexation study.

The annexation inquiry will be done under the aegis of a committee formed by members of the West Ranch and Castaic town councils.

The move gained traction following a preliminary study done by the city, showing tens of millions of surplus tax dollars collected by the county from the unincorporated areas are spent furnishing services outside the area.

"Annexation would keep more money in the Santa Clarita Valley than incorporation," said Paul Brotzman, the city's director of community development.

The city's preliminary study was not tailored to answer questions related to annexation to Santa Clarita or creation of a new city, and will not be part of the ongoing process, the city's treasurer has said.

The west-side committee will collect information and seek residents' views on forming a new city, annexing or sticking with the status quo -- county rule. State law requires a region considering cityhood to conduct a fiscal analysis to determine if there's a large enough tax base to support a city government. The boundaries of the area under study have not been fixed yet but could be drawn by the spring.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has pledged some $25,000 to fund a preliminary feasibility analysis that would determine if the key moneymakers within the proposed west-side city in the area of Castaic, Westridge and Stevenson Ranch generate a tax base solid enough to support a city government. Should the decision-making process gain momentum, a comprehensive fiscal analysis costing upward of $150,000 may be needed.

The supervisor's office said Antonovich will heed his constituents' voice.

"Supervisor Antonovich welcomes the city's interest in gathering further information to aid residents of the unincorporated Los Angeles County areas of the Santa Clarita Valley in making an informed decision about their destinies," said Tony Bell, a spokesman for the supervisor. "He has consistently and continually supported the will of the residents in determining their future."

A Castaic community leader said the movement afoot within the Valencia Commerce Center and among some residents of Hasley Hills neighborhoods to annex sooner should be put on hold.

"I believe it would meet our spirit of cooperation to hold off on any pending annexation request until the studies have been completed and the residents properly educated," said John Kunak, a Castaic Town Council member, who spoke on his own behalf, not his council's after the City Council meeting.

Kai Luoma, a senior planner for the city, said the city's policy has always been to consider all requests for annexation.

A law passed in 1992 ensures counties don't suffer financially when new cities form. When cities form, counties can keep all surplus tax revenue in perpetuity.

Annexations are not subject to the law, and a significant amount of sales and property tax revenue is kept by cities and spent locally, Luoma said.

Privacy laws would shield specific businesses from public disclosure of their tax revenues.

The Newhall Land and Farming Company has resisted efforts to have its raw land in a city, stating it is content with the county planning process. Newhall Land, which built and sold the Valencia Marketplace, included in the deed that the center should refuse annexation to an existing city or inclusion in a new one.

"Valencia Marketplace remains in the county unless the county determines that something else will be done," said Marlee Lauffer, a spokeswoman for Newhall Land.

Lauffer said the company has no information on the scope of the initial feasibility study or other proposals.

"We work in the jurisdiction we're in," Lauffer said. "It's not appropriate to make any comment at this point. In the meantime we're proceeding on the status quo, processing all of our plans through Los Angeles County while working with the town councils and the city."

The city is considering lowering the threshold of votes from 60 percent to a simple majority for communities seeking to annex, and if 5 percent of registered voters support annexation, the city will survey the entire community to determine if a majority concurs.

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