10 Cities to File Lawsuit to Unfreeze Tax Money : Budgets: The county is withholding $1.3 million in property assessment revenues to cover special fees that the municipalities refuse to pay.

Ventura County’s 10 cities agreed Tuesday to join forces in a lawsuit against the county for withholding more than $1.3 million in property tax payments to cover new fees that the cities have refused to pay.

After a meeting in Camarillo, city representatives said they plan to file the suit by the end of the week. The agreement must still receive formal approval from the city councils of Ojai, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Camarillo and Port Hueneme, officials from those cities said.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton, whose city stands to lose up to $300,000 in 1990-91 as a result of the county’s action, said the cities have little choice but to seek a legal remedy.

“We think we’ve got a good, solid argument, so we’re going to give it a shot,” Stratton said. “We don’t know what else to do.”

At issue is whether the county has the legal right to withhold property tax payments to cover unpaid fees that have been assessed to the cities for booking prisoners into Ventura County Jail and for collecting property taxes. The County Board of Supervisors approved the fees in September to make up for an estimated $6 million in state funding cuts.

The Legislature passed a law last year allowing counties to impose the fees as a way to recoup some of their revenue lost through state budget cutbacks and the weak economy.

But Ventura County cities and school districts have refused to pay the new fees because of their own budgeting problems.

As a result, County Auditor Norman R. Hawkes has withheld property tax payments from the cities and the school districts. The county’s 20 school districts are already engaged in a class-action suit against the state.

Attorney J. Robert Flandrick, who is to represent the cities in their lawsuit, said the county is in violation of state law because it failed to notify the municipalities that it would be taking the money.

“The county is a trustee of the cities,” he said. “It can’t just do whatever it wants.”

Flandrick said another issue that the county has not addressed is how it came up with the $120 fee charged for each prisoner booked into County Jail. He said the county has inflated the cost to offset its budget deficit.

But County Counsel James L. McBride said the cities already are getting a break on the booking fee, since the county is charging them $10 to $15 less than what it costs to process a prisoner at the jail. He said no official from any city in the county has bothered to ask how much it costs to book a prisoner.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said of the impending lawsuit. “It’s going to be a waste of everybody’s time.”

County Supervisor John Flynn said the county cannot afford to lose the money that it has collected from the cities. Although he would not be specific, he said certain county programs would have to be cut if the county lost that revenue.

“We’re asking cities for their help,” he said. “We can’t do everything.”

Cities in at least eight other California counties--including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Bernardino--have filed similar lawsuits, said JoAnne Speers, general counsel of the League of California Cities.

“We have also heard that there are other cities in other counties that are about to file or are exploring” the possibility of filing lawsuits, Speers said.

Meanwhile, state officials said Tuesday that the Legislature probably will repeal the law that allows counties to charge the new fees to cities.

“I think there is universal agreement among everyone that this is not a good law,” said Bill Livingston, a spokesman for Gov. Pete Wilson. “It’s really robbing Peter to pay Paul. It has created a lot of hostilities between counties and cities.”

He said the Legislature, which is in the middle of putting together a budget for the 1991-92 fiscal year, may take action on the issue today.

But even if the law is repealed, Livingston said, the action would not become effective until July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year. He said counties and cities would have to resolve the issue of the fees assessed during the past year.