Rejects Claims That Area Homes Are Worthless : Board Upholds Property Taxes for Dunes

County officials have decided against eliminating property taxes for residents of an Oxnard neighborhood who believe the area to be contaminated by underground oil wastes.

The Ventura County Assessment Appeals Board this week rejected a claim by residents of the Oxnard Dunes subdivision that their homes are effectively worthless and, consequently, should not be taxed. The board upheld a decision by Ventura County Assessor R.J. (Jerry) Sanford to continue taxing Dunes homes at a discounted rate.

Representatives of 25 Dunes residents who had burned their property tax bills in August to protest Sanford’s order expressed no surprise at Monday’s ruling.

“We never felt we had a fair shake,” said Paul Dolan, a spokesman for a group of residents involved in a complex lawsuit against oil companies that the suit says polluted the area, development companies that built there and governmental agencies that allowed the construction.

Dolan said the group plans to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, a handful of residents who attended Monday’s hearing said they will continue to withhold payment of their property taxes.

Sanford said residents face the risk of the state seizing their property for resale to recoup taxes.

Dunes residents were given an average tax break of 38% last year and 32% this year, based on a complicated formula devised by the assessor’s office that takes into account the fact that a determination on the neighborhood’s safety will not be made for several years. Residents are expected to receive a tax break of about 30% in each of the next two years.

In rejecting the request to eliminate property taxes, the three-member board cited Sanford’s testimony that landowners in the area have continued to rent and sell properties despite the 1986 revelation that the coastal subdivision was built on property used as an oil sump as late as the early 1960s.

Sanford said that 24 of the 122 parcels at the Dunes have changed hands since that time, making for an annual turnover of 20%. Before 1986, 25% of the neighborhood’s properties sold each year.

While he acknowledged that none of the properties sold at market rate, Sanford said all have sold at a higher price than expected under the formula he used to set their tax rates. For instance, the taxable value of a Dunes condominium that sold in November, 1988, for $112,000 was set that year at $79,912.

“I reject the idea that there is zero valuation on these properties,” said appeals board member Charles Monico.

Monico said residents failed to show that potential existence of toxic substances at the site have put Dunes residents in “clear and imminent danger.”

The State Department of Health Services is conducting an investigation in the subdivision to determine whether residents face such a danger.

“All we’re getting is a lot of hearsay,” Monico said.