NONRESIDENTS ASSAIL FEES AT BURBANK PARK; COUNTY PLANS REVIEW OF POLICY.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

What started out as a little squabble over tennis fees at a park in Burbank was transformed Tuesday into a countywide debate over whether it's fair for cities to charge higher park fees to nonresidents.

A group of angry residents told the Board of Supervisors that the city of Burbank should not be charging $3 extra for nonresidents to use tennis courts at its McCambridge Park because Burbank is slated to receive Proposition A funds as part of the county contribution to the project.

Proposition A was paid for by all taxpayers in Los Angeles County. Burbank residents are charged $10 to use the courts. Nonresidents are charged $13.

``The county wants us to pay for Proposition A and then Burbank wants to charge us again,'' said Theresa Karam, who lives in Los Angeles just west of the Burbank city border.

Although $900,000 of county Proposition A funds are earmarked for the park, Burbank paid the bulk of the $4 million cost of the project. The city added the fees to raise revenues and to benefit city residents whose tax dollars paid the majority of the costs of the park.

County administrators and lawyers agreed with Burbank officials that the city is allowed to charge what is known as a ``differential fee'' to nonresidents.

But several members of the Board of Supervisors objected to the added charge.

The supervisors asked its staff to report in three weeks on how the county could legally prohibit higher fees for nonresidents at city parks built in part with Proposition A funds. The action Tuesday could set the stage for a major battle with the 88 cities in the county.

``The cities are going to become unglued about this,'' said Supervisor Gloria Molina, who said she opposes such fees because all residents should feel welcome in public parks regardless of a city boundary line.

Supervisor Don Knabe insisted that the supervisors wait three weeks before making a decision on the issue so officials from the 88 cities would have the chance to comment. He noted that cities helped the county get voters to pass both Proposition A initiatives in 1992 and 1996.

``Proposition A was sold with a heck of a lot of independence for the cities to get them on board,'' Knabe said. ``They were sold a bill of goods by the people pushing Proposition A.''

Last summer, cities protested loudly when the supervisors forced them to hire at-risk youths to work on parks projects that included Proposition A funds. The proposition included a largely ignored provision requiring the hiring of such employees.

Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen predicted the cities will be just as mad about being forced to junk nonresident fees as they were about hiring on at-risk youths.

``All cities charge differential fees and they do it to raise revenues and to restrict who is using their facilities. I think the cities are going to be even more sensitive on this issue,'' Janssen said.