Diamond Bar : Hill Bill Would Help City
Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier) has proposed a bill that would exempt the newly incorporated city from a technicality in state law that barred it from receiving $1.2 million in property taxes. City Council members, determined to see the bill pass, voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire a $2,000-a-month Sacramento lobbyist to advance their cause.
Because of the timing of Diamond Bar’s incorporation election in March, 1989, the city is ineligible to receive property taxes until the 1990-91 fiscal year. Hill’s bill would exempt the city from a provision in state law barring cities that incorporate after Jan. 1 from receiving property taxes that fiscal year.
City officials argued that the law was unfair because Diamond Bar has been paying the entire cost of municipal services since June, 1989. For several months, they have pleaded with Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum and other county representatives to try to get the money, to no avail. Last December, the county’s legal advisers refused to exempt the city.
The council then turned to Assemblyman Charles Bader (R-Ontario), asking him to submit legislation on the city’s behalf. Bader passed the request on to Hill, whose district includes Diamond Bar.
The lobbyist hired Tuesday, Joe A. Gonsalves & Son, also represents 18 other cities, including La Mirada, Lakewood and Rosemead.
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