COUNCIL VOTES TO CAP FEES; DECISION LIMITS COSTS FOR ASSESSMENT AREAS.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

Before residents begin mailing in their ballots next week on whether to retain the city's landscape assessment district, the City Council voted Tuesday to cap the annual fee residents would have to pay at $251.52.

Currently, the more than 14,500 property owners who pay into the city's 19-year-old landscape assessment district are required to contribute a flat fee of $139 each year to support the maintenance of city trees and public green spots.

Under a new system of fees the city recently developed, those residents would be assigned to one of 35 different zones with rates ranging from as little as $21 to as much as $1,732 each year.

On Tuesday, the city council voted to cap the amount paid in any zone by both subsidizing the higher-end zones with about $217,000 in property taxes the city receives from the county each year and by slightly raising the fees paid in zones with lower fees.

``With the maximum cap in place, 72 percent of those residents in the assessment district are going to be paying less than the $138 they pay now and 28 percent will be paying slightly more,'' said Kurt Reithmayr, engineering division manager with the city's Public Works Department.

Since 1979, the city has relied on assessment districts to cover the majority of the costs for public safety lights, street lamps and landscape maintenance. Last year, residents in the district paid $1.8 million to cover more than half the city's costs to maintain public green.

Following the passage of Proposition 218 in November 1996, the city has had to tinker with its assessment district to better comply with state law. Under the proposition, the city can only apply assessments on residents who directly benefit - not on all residents.

The proposition also requires a popular vote to retain such property-related taxes. Beginning next week, residents can start voting on the district by mailing in ballots.

For many residents, the city's capping the fees allayed some of the fears that the new system would raise the fees too much.

``I was happy to see the city put a cap on the fees. It brings some of the zones down into a more reasonable range, I think,'' said Cathy Schutz, a Thousand Oaks resident and vice-president of the Westlake Joint Board of Homeowners Associations.

But others said that their zones would pay too great a share of something that benefits the entire community.

``It is palatable, but it shouldn't be acceptable,'' said Campbell Avenue resident Gail Seastrom, who was initially assessed at the highest fee of $1,732.

``I don't think it should be the responsibility of about a dozen residents to bear the financial burden of keeping the corner of Lynn Road and Janss neat and clean,'' she said. ``I think the city needs to pay for it out of the property taxes all the residents already pay or at least find a more equitable way to get everyone in the city to contribute.''