School Districts, Builder Clash Over Taxes Intended for Schools

A legal battle is brewing between two Santa Clarita Valley school districts and a builder over more than $500,000 in developer taxes earmarked for new schools.

Trustees of the William S. Hart Union High School District said Tuesday night that the builder, M.J. Brock and Sons, must abide by a contract it signed in September pledging to pay the voter-approved taxes levied on 121 townhouses in Saugus proposed by Brock.

Robert W. Garcin, general counsel for the Los Angeles developer, said Brock was willing to pay the taxes but wants to reserve the right to challenge them in court later in view of a recent state Supreme Court ruling that declared the taxes unconstitutional.

School officials countered that Brock gave up its right to challenge the taxes in court when it signed the agreement.

“The total amount should be paid as agreed,” Trustee Gerald Heidt said.

The taxes were approved by Santa Clarita Valley voters in June, 1987, and levied an average of $6,300 for each housing unit constructed in the valley. The Supreme Court said the fees were illegal because they applied to future, and not present, development and exceeded state law, which already requires developers to pay school districts $1.53 for each square foot of new housing they build.

Garcin refused to say whether Brock would challenge the fees in court but strongly suggested it would do so. At issue is $301,485 for the Hart district and $247,648 for the Saugus Union Elementary School District.

The Saugus district is prepared to follow the Hart district’s lead in the case, said interim Saugus Supt. A. Stanley Corey.

Hart officials and Brock executives were at an impasse Tuesday night. Some developers, however, have agreed to pay the taxes despite the high court’s ruling. The Valencia Co., for example, agreed to pay the Hart district more than $6 million in new housing development taxes.

Alexander Bowie, an attorney for the district, said Hart could not accept checks from Brock until the company says it is giving up its right to appeal the taxes. Until the company does so, the district will block the company’s effort to obtain building permits for the townhouses, he said.