Cities, County Add Fees to Soften Hard Times : Government: The 20 new charges are expected to cost residents $1 million annually. Some people call them a ‘rip-off.’

In Camarillo, if you are 30 days late paying your water bill, the city will charge you $10 to hang a notice on your door warning that your service is about to be shut off.

If you open a new business in Fillmore, the fire chief will charge you $48 an hour to inspect your building to make sure it meets fire codes.

And be ready to shell out $120 if you are a student in the Conejo Valley School District and you want to take a driver’s training course.

These are examples of the more than 20 new fees and penalties that Ventura County schools, cities and the county government have imposed on residents in the past year.

Because the new charges are based on such variables as how many Camarillo residents are late paying their water bill, it is difficult for officials to calculate precisely how much money the fees will raise each year.

However, officials estimate that the fees will cost county residents at least $1 million annually.

Since the adoption of Proposition 13, the property-tax reform measure that halted the growth in property tax revenues to cities, such fees have become commonplace in cities, schools and counties statewide.

But taxpayer groups say the addition of new charges began in earnest about three years ago when state funding for local governments began to dry up.

“All governments--city and state--are going to have to adjust their thinking so that they spend only what they have,” said Jere Robings, executive director of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn.

“It’s a rip-off,” said Karen Burgess, a Camarillo resident who received a $10 warning notice Thursday for a late water bill. “We have enough fees already.”

“It’s ridiculous,” said Kathleen Davis, another Camarillo resident who received a $10 warning. “Ten dollars?”

And officials in several cities are considering other new fees.

In Ojai, for example, officials are considering a permit fee for residents who want to serve alcohol at gatherings in city parks. Thousand Oaks officials are considering a $55 annual charge for out-of-town residents who want to check out books from the city library.

In addition to the special user fees, many residents are paying fees for special assessment districts, which cities and counties can create to pay for services such as water, sewers, roads, libraries, parks, street lights and flood control.

In Port Hueneme, city officials are considering the formation of two assessment districts to pay for the maintenance of local beaches and street medians.

No matter how the new costs are described, Robings said, the fees are tantamount to increased taxes.

“User fees are euphemisms for taxes,” he said.

Robings said he worries that local governments will continue adding new fees to charge residents for services that were previously provided at no additional cost.

“I just don’t know where it is going to end,” Robings said.

A new business license fee adopted in February by the Board of Supervisors prompted the formation of an organization called CONTROL, which stands for Citizens Opposing New Taxes, Read Our Lips.

The group is circulating a petition to ask the supervisors to repeal the license fee charged to businesses in the county’s unincorporated area. The license, which is charged in most cities, will raise about $500,000 each year.

City, county and school officials say the new fees and penalties provide revenues to balance budgets that have been stricken by state funding cuts and tough economic times. Without the new charges, they say, the county, cities and schools would have to resort to layoffs or cutting vital public services.

Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee said the county is mandated to provide many services, such as running local courts and welfare programs, and cannot simply cut such services when revenues run dry.

“I wish I could tell you that it’s as easy to do as some people make it out to be,” she said.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors imposed a $120 fee on cities for each prisoner booked into the Ventura County Jail, and began to charge cities, schools and special districts for property tax collection. The fees are expected to raise about $6 million annually.

While residents do not pay these fees directly, many cities and school officials said they will be forced to pass the cost on to residents in the form of new fees.

“With all the takeaways by our county, we have to create revenue streams where they’re the right thing to do,” said longtime Thousand Oaks Councilman Alex Fiore.

In Thousand Oaks, city officials have adopted six new fees that are expected to raise about $66,000 each year.

For example, as of Jan. 1, if you are in an automobile accident in Thousand Oaks it will cost $28 to get a copy of the accident report from the Sheriff’s Department in the city.

The city has also begun charging a fee if sheriff’s deputies respond to more than two false burglary alarms at a business or residence within 12 months. The city will charge $50 to respond to the third false alarm and $100 for the fourth. Every time the Sheriff’s Department responds after the fourth false alarm costs the resident or businesses owner $100.

In Camarillo, if you are more than 19 days late in paying your sewer or rubbish bills the city will assess a penalty equal to 10% of your total monthly bill. That fee, which takes effect this month, will raise more than $50,000 each year, according to city officials.

That is in addition to the $10 fee for delinquent water payments, which took effect in July and is expected to raise $180,000 each year.

Camarillo has also begun charging a $10 fee to start new water services for businesses and residences. That fee, which was adopted in June, 1990, has already generated about $3,700 for the city.

In total, the Camarillo fees will raise more than $200,000 annually.

In Oxnard, owners of mobile homes must pay a new $1.91 monthly fee for the cost of a rent-control program that provides mediators to settle disputes between mobile home park owners and renters. The fee was adopted in February and is expected to raise $64,500 annually.

In Fillmore, the fire inspection fee adopted in October is expected to generate about $1,500 annually.

In Santa Paula, officials adopted two new fees in March. One fee requires business owners to pay for the Fire Department’s cost of cleaning up hazardous material spills at the businesses. The fee depends on the type of spill and the time it takes to clean up.

Builders in Santa Paula must also pay a $1 fee for every sheet of construction plans processed by the city. The fee offsets storage and microfilm costs.

Santa Paula officials said they are not sure how much money the fees will generate.

In June, Simi Valley officials began requiring businesses to provide information about the types of hazardous materials manufactured and stored on their premises. Officials are now considering charging businesses $26 for a certificate to show they are handling hazardous materials safely.

At Ventura County libraries, patrons with more than $50 in fines will face a collection agency and an additional $10 charge for the cost of the agency.

The fee, which took effect in early March, is expected to generate as much as $10,000, according to library officials.

Times staff writer Psyche Pascual contributed to this story.