COLLEGE DISTRICT CONSIDERS BID FOR NEW ASSESSMENT.

Byline: Mary Beth Alexander Daily News Staff Writer

The cash-strapped Los Angeles Community College District is considering spending $863,500 in an attempt to launch a controversial assessment district.

The district would levy an annual $6 to $12 fee on all parcels in the district. Officials have not specified an exact amount.

Opponents say the costs for starting the assessment district are too high, especially the $650,000 needed to mail legal notices. But proponents say the district would be reimbursed if the per-parcel fee is approved.

"It's all recoverable," said district board President David Lopez-Lee, who supports the per-parcel assessment. "Some people are going to say its a misuse of funds. That's wholly inaccurate."

The district board of trustees is expected to consider the expenditure at a meeting today at the district office in Los Angeles.

District officials say the landscape and lighting district could raise nearly $10 million a year for maintenance and improvement projects on its nine campuses.

To start collecting the fee, the community college district will have to mail notices before and after a public hearing, at a cost of about $650,000; and spend an additional $200,000 for consultants and other fees.

By law, the assessment can be blocked if the district receives written protests from 50 percent of the owners of the estimated 1.1 million parcels subject to the levy.

Trustee Lindsay Conner has consistently opposed the assessment because he said it circumvents Proposition 13, which requires two-thirds voter approval for most new taxes.

He also complained that the cost estimates for forming the assessment district are $300,000 higher than initially projected.

Trustees voted 4-2 in January to move forward with forming the assessment district, after a poll of 1,000 district voters in December showed 54 percent would support a $12 levy; and 63 a $6 yearly fee.