Fire, Police Funding Gets New Look in P.V. Estates

Seeking to end their reliance on voters to help pay for police, fire and paramedic services, Palos Verdes Estates officials are studying the feasibility of forming an assessment district to fund the services.

For years, many city officials have voiced concern about financing police and fire protection through a parcel tax that voters have approved periodically. The tax was first passed in 1980, and voters have twice elected to renew it. It is due to expire in 1992.

“I believe the fire and paramedic issue is too critical to the welfare of our citizens,” Councilman Mike Moody said. “I don’t think it should be subjected to a vote.”

The city’s budget would be devastated and fire and police services seriously threatened if voters ever decide not to renew the tax, he added.

“This is really playing with fire, no pun intended,” Moody said.

Under the parcel tax, every property owner in the city pays a flat annual fee that has increased since 1980 from $75 to $265. The city collects about $1.4 million, which is used to help pay for police and fire services.

The city spends about $4.2 million for police and fire services. Of that amount, $1.8 million goes to Los Angeles County, which contracts with the city for fire protection.

City Manager James Hendrickson said the parcel tax, along with another parcel tax that will raise $480,900 this year to pay for street and park projects, accounts for nearly 25% of the city’s total operating budget of $8 million. Only five other cities in California--Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, San Marino and Stanton--rely on a parcel tax to pay for police or fire services, he said.

Hendrickson said one option is to eliminate both parcel taxes and form an assessment district that would collect enough money to pay the entire fire services bill. Although the city would receive about $144,000 less than it now collects from the two taxes, “what we gain is certainty and continuity of funding, which we do not have with parcel taxes,” he said.

Police services and street and park projects would be paid for out of the city’s general fund, Hendrickson said.

Under state law, any city that provides fire services to its citizens is allowed to assess property owners for the cost of equipment and firefighters’ salaries and benefits. However, the amount collected by the city this way cannot exceed the cost of fire services.

Hendrickson predicted that the cost to the average property owner in Palos Verdes Estates would decrease under an assessment district because the law requires that a property owner’s share be “commensurate with service.” That means that owners of very large homes and commercial property would pay more, decreasing the cost for others, he said.

When council members meet next week, they are expected to approve the formation of a citizens committee of up to nine members to study the matter. Once the committee’s work is finished, public hearings will be held.

Councilman James Nyman said one reason he ran for a council seat two years ago was to find a long-term financial solution for police and fire services. Nyman said he will wait until the citizens committee completes its work before deciding whether he favors forming an assessment district. But he said such an approach is “the best option I know about right now for solving our problem.”

If little or no opposition surfaces from residents, an assessment district can be formed by a majority vote of the City Council.

However, if the city receives written protests from people whose property would provide 5% or more of the anticipated revenue from the district, an election would have to be called, and two-thirds of the city’s voters would have to approve creating the district.

If the city receives written protests from residents whose property would generate more than one-third of the district’s anticipated revenue, the city is prohibited from forming the district.