SPECIAL TAX FUND AT ISSUE HOMEOWNERS SUE COUNTY.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

STEVENSON RANCH - Three more sets of Stevenson Ranch homeowners filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Los Angeles County, saying the county misspent special taxes they had paid for public facilities in their neighborhood.

The suit filed on behalf of Louis and Helen Bovasso, Joy Carpenter and Marc Dumlao and David Friedrich comes nearly two months after homeowner Anthony Moskal sued the county with similar charges.

Moskal's lawsuit claimed the county spent money it collected from more than 1,600 residents in the Stevenson Ranch tax district's so-called Area B for facilities beyond the area, including Pico Canyon Elementary School, which Area B children will not attend.

``It's a backup,'' Craig Collins, the attorney representing the homeowners, said of the new lawsuit. ``We're asserting the same claims as in the first lawsuit, but in case the county convinced Moskal to withdraw his case, we have another case on file.''

County officials said they expect a judge will ultimately combine the two cases into one suit because they make similar claims.

``Assuming that the lawsuit is based on the same facts and arguments raised in Moskal's lawsuit, I would expect the two lawsuits to be consolidated,'' said Warren Wellen, senior deputy county counsel.

A Superior Court judge will consider on May 7 a motion filed by the county to dismiss the Moskal lawsuit. Collins also filed a motion Wednesday seeking to immediately stop the county from spending any more tax proceeds outside tax district Area B. That will also be heard by a judge on May 7.

In addition to property taxes, homeowners pay between $1,093 to $3,636 annually for 25 years to build roads and other facilities.

Moskal is asking that the county stop spending the $16 million outside Area B, repay residents the portion of the money spent outside the area and to either spend the money for improvements to Area B or retire the May 2000 bond.

Officials from the county as well as Stevenson Ranch's developer, Lennar Communities, have maintained the county is permitted to spend money outside the different areas within the tax district if the service or facilities benefit homeowners in the district.