Santa Clarita OKs Putting Road Tax on Nov. 7 Ballot

The Santa Clarita City Council has agreed to place a measure on the November ballot that would raise property-tax bills $75 to $200 to build and improve roads in the heavily congested Santa Clarita Valley.

The ballot proposal, which was authorized Thursday night, would affect all property in the William S. Hart Union High School District, which includes unincorporated portions of the Santa Clarita Valley.

To be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot, the proposal must also be approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Santa Clarita Councilman Howard P. (Buck) McKeon said he would ask supervisors for their support next week.

Proponents of the measure predict the tax could become as controversial as the drive for Santa Clarita cityhood two years ago.

“This could be as tough as incorporation,” J.J. O’Brien said. O’Brien heads the Santa Clarita Valley Transportation Committee, which proposed the measure.

‘I Have Some Fear’

Councilman Carl Boyer III said he hopes the proposed tax, which would need a two-thirds majority for passage, will not split the community. “I have some fear as to what is going to happen Election Day,” Boyer said.

Saugus and Canyon Country residents probably will support the tax, Boyer said, because those communities are far removed from the freeways and suffer from chronically clogged streets. But residents of Newhall and Valencia, which are closer to the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways, may oppose the tax, he said.

Mayor Jan Heidt said the Transportation Committee will have to develop an innovative campaign to persuade voters to tax themselves. “I’m concerned about your ability to sell this to the public,” she said.

Council members had pledged before incorporation that cityhood would not mean new taxes. They said repeatedly Thursday they were not endorsing the tax.

“We’re not advocating a tax increase,” Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy said. “The real crux of the issue is to let the people decide at the ballot box.”

O’Brien said: “It’s time to put up or shut up.”

The tax would be based on dwelling size. Connie Worden, a Transportation Committee member, said the rationale is that large dwellings generally produce more drivers--and traffic--than smaller dwellings.

Single-family homes less than 1,500 square feet would pay $100. Homes between 1,500 and 2,500 square feet would pay $150. Homes larger than 2,500 square feet would be assessed $200.

Apartment owners would pay $75 per unit. Residents over 65 would be exempt.

The Transportation Committee estimates that existing homeowners would generate $41 million by 2010. Up to $200 million would be paid by future homeowners. The tax would expire in 25 years.

Lou Garasi, a Transportation Committee spokesman, said the county and city face an Aug. 11 deadline to get the measure on the ballot. The two governments will have to create a joint agency to administer the tax dollars. That process, Garasi said, is complicated, time-consuming and involves public hearings.

Garasi said it will cost the city and county about $100,000 in legal fees and staff time to prepare the ballot measure and create the joint agency.

A yearlong study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments recently estimated that $340 million would be needed by 2010 to build and upgrade streets in the Santa Clarita Valley.