COUNTY FEARS FISCAL IMPACT OF PROP. 218.Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer The passage of Proposition 218 calls into question dozens of taxes across Ventura County that pay for services including fire protection, libraries and the upkeep of parks, county officials said Tuesday. Two weeks after the ballot measure dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. ``Jarvis II'' passed by a 53 percent margin, local officials say the restriction on assessments may force deep cuts in county and city budgets. County records show that a total of $77 million in special assessments are included on recently-mailed property tax bills. ``I don't think people really understand how much of an impact this could have,'' said County Supervisor Judy Mikels. ``I'm very concerned about the erosion of local government's ability to perform its role.'' It is unclear, however, how many of the special assessments on the books will be subject to a vote. ``It's not clear at all - there's lots of interpretation involved,'' said Ventura County Auditor Controller Thomas Mahon. ``Invariably in·var·i·a·ble adj. Not changing or subject to change; constant. in·var  i·a·bil this thing will end up in the courts and we'll
sit around sweating it out waiting to see what will happen.''
Sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Howard Jarvis (September 22, 1903 - August 11, 1986) was born in Magna, Utah and died in Los Angeles, California. In Utah he had some political involvement working with his father's campaigns and his own. Taxpayer's Association, Proposition 218 was designed to plug a hole in Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot measure that limited increases in property taxes. Local officials responded by forming special assessment districts to pay for everything from street-lighting in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. to mosquito mosquito (məskē`tō), small, long-legged insect of the order Diptera, the true flies. The females of most species have piercing and sucking mouth parts and apparently they must feed at least once upon mammalian blood before their eggs can extermination extermination mass killing of animals or other pests. Implies complete destruction of the species or other group. in Moorpark. Before the measure, assessments could be approved by a government agency as long as a majority of property owners did not file written protests. Proposition 218 requires a majority of the affected property owners to approve the assessment in a mail-in vote that weighs each vote based on the assessment levied against the property. A property owner assessed $2,000, for instance, gets twice the vote as a homeowner being assessed $1,000. This formula gives too much power to property owners, Mikels said. ``Clearly this thing passed because voters thought they were supporting the the right to vote on taxes - but that's not exactly true,'' she said. ``In reality, you could get two or three property owners together controlling one public project. What we end up with is a small percentage of people controlling one thing.'' The initiative would force a vote on a county library assessment district approved by the Board of Supervisors, but it will not affect many other assessments, said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer's Association. Votes are not required on any assessment that pays for sidewalks, street maintenance, street-lighting, sewers, drainage drainage, in agriculture drainage, in agriculture, the removal of excess water from the soil, either by a system of surface ditches, or by underground conduits if required by soil conditions and land contour. , flood control or mosquito abatement A reduction, a decrease, or a diminution. The suspension or cessation, in whole or in part, of a continuing charge, such as rent. With respect to estates, an abatement is a proportional diminution or reduction of the monetary legacies, a disposition of property by will, when , said Vosburgh. Hikes in those assessments, however, would require a vote. ``Assessments were created to fund projects that directly benefit a property,'' Vosburgh said. ``Then government used that loophole An omission or Ambiguity in a legal document that allows the intent of the document to be evaded. Loopholes come into being through the passage of statutes, the enactment of regulations, the drafting of contracts or the decisions of courts. to pay for luxuries that don't benefit anyone except themselves.'' The proposition dictates that all assessments that violate the restrictions be put to property taxpayers by March of next year. |
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