Four O.C. School Districts Rescind New Property Fee

Expressing defeat and disillusion, officials from four school districts Tuesday night rescinded a $50 property fee that would have raised money for schools.

By a 5-0 vote, the joint authority representing the Huntington Beach Union High, Huntington Beach City, Ocean View and Westminster school districts nullified their unanimous decision of two weeks ago to levy the fee. Authority members cited potentially high costs of lawsuits and the constant phone calls they had received in the last week from furious constituents.

The fees would have raised $4.3 million annually for the upkeep of school property. As part of the motion, the five-member authority, established in June expressly to form an assessment district, also agreed to disband.

Each of the board members, visibly weary, read prepared statements. Most emphasized their disillusion and frustration with finding a solution to their districts’ budget crises.

“I used to believe it was my responsibility to make severe budget cuts while still trying to protect school programs and facilities,” said Bonnie Castrey, trustee for the Huntington Beach Union High School District. “I no longer believe that is my responsibility. You have spoken. You can either let these schools go down the tube, or you can take the opportunity to work with us to maintain our facility. It’s really your choice at this point.”

Chairwoman Karen O’Bric, a trustee at the Huntington Beach City School District, adjourned the meeting by saying that children in the four school districts will end up being the “real losers.”

The key to the abrupt reversal was a promise from a local realtors group to help raise money for the schools.

Tuesday night’s action was a turning point in Orange County, where such fees have been considered a sure way to boost sagging budgets without the referendums necessary to raise property taxes under Proposition 13. Faced with shouts of “recall” from angry constituents and threats of lawsuits by anti-tax groups such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., school board members are increasingly viewing assessment districts as political poison.

Only two districts in Orange County now levy fees for school maintenance. They are Orange Unified and Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified. Last week, Orange Unified, the first district in the county to enact the fees, was sued by property owners and the Jarvis group. A citizens group has formally announced that it intends to recall board members who approved the fee.

“It’s really a sad commentary to have people sue school districts for the $2.50 a month that would go for play fields,” said Dale Scott, a financial consultant for Orange Unified. “There is that intense amount of pressure from a small group of very vocal opponents.”

Last week, trustees of the Fullerton Joint Union High School District canceled their public hearing and dismissed the idea of a fee after the district received more than 900 angry calls and letters. In the La Habra City district, school officials say they will review the situation in Huntington Beach before deciding on a fee.

“It’s been extremely difficult for school boards to deal with this kind of heat,” said John Seeland, assistant superintendent in Fullerton. “They are not used to it.”

Anti-tax groups will continue their fight in other school districts that have passed the assessment fees, said Joel Fox, president of the Los Angeles-based Jarvis group.

“This effort won’t stop in Orange County,” Fox said. “The fees are like poison apples that have been sent to the school district. The school districts thought the protest was going to go away after the vote. But people got angry, and they didn’t forget. This issue will not go away unless the trustees correct themselves.”

Opponents of the assessment fee worked furiously in Huntington Beach, where more than 1,000 protesters showed up at the July 25 meeting to oppose it. The trustees said they were forced to rethink the fee because they feared the issue could divide the community and that they might lose a potentially costly legal fight. Rather than risk the lawsuit, they accepted a pledge of financial aid from the Huntington Beach/Fountain Valley Board of Realtors.

“As a member of the business community, I have said I would get other businesses to put together an educational coalition in this community, and I’m committed to that,” said James M. Righeimer, president of the Board of Realtors. “The community wants to be asked what needs to happen here, and do it in a better way.”

After the meeting, the trustees released a prepared statement calling for a blue ribbon committee, to be composed of the Board of Realtors and other business groups, to work at building a financial base for schools.

Authority member Sheila Marcus said Righeimer’s promise was among the deciding factors in her decision to switch her vote. “The realtors have made strong pledges to help. So we’ll see what that means,” she said.

Although the authority reversed itself, property owners still said Tuesday that they plan to meet later this month to decide whether to pursue a recall campaign.