HUNTINGTON BEACH : 2 Groups Campaign Against School Fees

Two organizations of real estate agents and other business leaders have launched a campaign to defeat a proposal by four school districts to charge property owners to help pay for recreational facilities at schools.

In an effort resembling a full-scale political-election campaign, opponents of the plan have mailed brochures to Huntington Beach-area residents, circulated petitions, handed out flyers and posted about 450 signs throughout the region denouncing the proposal.

The signs, which during the past several days have cropped up on posts and fences in Huntington Beach and Westminster, read “Stop New Unfair School Tax!” and urge residents to attend Thursday’s public hearing, at which the issue will be decided.

Over the weekend, campaign mailers were sent to homeowners, detailing the costs of the proposal and the arguments against it.

The signs and mailers were paid for by two influential property-owner advocacy groups, the Huntington Beach-Fountain Valley Board of Realtors and the West Orange County Assn. of Realtors. The latter organization represents some unincorporated areas of the county and parts of five cities, including Westminster.

Those groups, along with the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, are spearheading the campaign against forming a maintenance assessment district. Such assessment districts, proposed under a 1972 state law, have stirred controversy in every county school district in which they have been considered.

Among three districts that have voted on the proposal to date, only the Orange Unified School District board has adopted the measure. That district last month imposed a $30-per-year fee on property owners to help pay for school tennis courts, baseball diamonds, meeting rooms and other facilities that are used for activities not related to schools.

The Huntington Beach Union High School District and three of its elementary feeder districts--Huntington Beach City, Ocean View and Westminster districts--have formed a joint-powers authority to consider charging a $50-per-year fee to cover costs. The West Orange County Schools Financing Authority, a five-member panel, will hold its hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Huntington Beach High School gymnasium.

School board members and other proponents argue that the assessment district is needed to help bail out schools from their dire financial situation.

Opponents, however, contend that the plan improperly uses the state Landscaping and Lighting Act, enacted largely to help cities improve public grounds and street lights. They also charge that the property fee amounts to a tax, which they argue violates the intent of Proposition 13.

“The taxes that this would impose are the best-kept secret in Huntington Beach, so we want to make sure people come to the hearing,” said James M. Righeimer, president of the Huntington Beach-Fountain Valley Board of Realtors and a leading organizer of the campaign.

Members of the West Orange County Schools Financing Authority were not available Monday for comment. But Shirley Carey, a Huntington Beach City School District trustee, assailed the groups’ mailers and flyers as “inflammatory” and filled with “misinformation.”

“I think the people have a right to make their own decision on this issue, but it’s unfortunate when information is getting out there that is not based on the facts,” Carey said.

Righeimer would not disclose how much his board has spent on the campaign. The West Orange County Assn. of Realtors, which paid for about one-fourth of the signs and a small portion of the mailer costs, has spent about $1,500, spokeswoman Pat Neal said.