COUNTY COULD PLACE LIBRARY, FIRE TAXES ON JUNE BALLOT.Byline: David Bloom David Bloom (May 22, 1963 – April 6, 2003) was an NBC journalist (co-anchor of Weekend Today and reporter) until his sudden death in 2003 at the age of 39. Early life Daily News Staff Writer After losing a court battle Monday to exempt fire district assessments from Proposition 218, county officials said they would seek voter VOTER. One entitled to a vote; an elector. approval for fire and library assessments. Superior Court Judge Richard Kalustian ruled that the county's fire benefit assessment district is not exempted from the proposition's requirement of taxpayer approval. His tentative tentative, adj not final or definite, such as an experimental or clinical finding that has not been validated. ruling said the county was wrong to claim it had a contract between the fire district and its taxpayers that superceded Proposition 218. ``The judge didn't want to be the first one to fight the will of the people,'' said Principal Deputy County Counsel Mark Saladino, who represented the fire district. ``The ruling was not a big surprise, but it was a disappointment.'' Saladino said the case would be appealed, a process that likely will take at least a few months, meaning the county probably will need voter approval of both districts June 3 to continue collecting the taxes after July 1. The ruling was a victory for 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. , which sponsored the proposition on November's ballot and defended it in court. ``If it gets on the ballot and the people support it, then that's how the system is supposed to work,'' said President Joel Fox, adding that the association probably wouldn't oppose the ballot measures. ``We'll probably just let the people make the decision,'' he said. The fire benefit assessment district raises $51.7 million annually with a parcel charge on developed properties in unincorporated areas In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, i.e., a city or town with its own government. and 48 cities served by the county fire district. The assessment has been charged since 1991. It provides about 17 percent of the department's budget for fire service in unincorporated areas and 48 of the 52 cities served by the department, including Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, , Lancaster, Palmdale, La Canada Flintridge, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Calabasas and Hidden Hills. County fire officials have said the loss of the revenue could cause layoffs of up to 300 firefighters and closure of about one-fifth of the department's stations. The county Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. is scheduled to decide today whether to set an election June 3 on imposing a special tax to replace the benefit assessment districts for fire service and libraries. |
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