County Calls for State Tax Equity : Politics: Local leaders ask area’s legislators for help in changing system of doling out property levies that leaves county last in rate of return.

Orange County taxpayers are subsidizing big-spending governments across California, and county officials Friday urged local Assembly members and state senators to launch an offensive against what they consider an unfair system.

“The citizens of Orange County pay a significantly higher percentage in property tax than they receive back from the state. . . . I think if your constituents were aware of that, you’d have some pretty upset folks,” County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said. “I would hope that an urban county doesn’t have to go bankrupt before the Legislature does something.”

Schneider’s remarks--which came during a pair of special sessions that brought together the five county supervisors with four of the area’s Assembly members and later with three of its state senators--reflect a consensus among county officials that many of the local government’s budget woes are largely the result of an unjust system of doling out property taxes.

Under that system, Orange County government receives about 18 cents out of every property tax dollar collected from Orange County homeowners. That ranks at the bottom of all 58 California counties.

The state average is about 33 cents on the dollar, county officials said, and bringing Orange County up to that would mean an additional $225 million a year. That would be enough to wipe out the persistent county budget shortfalls in one fell swoop.

As a result, county supervisors and other top local government leaders urged the legislators to air the issue in Sacramento and try to get some relief for the county there. The county, in fact, has prepared an elaborate “tax equity” report, chock-full of charts and statistics bolstering its case.

Copies were given to each of the legislators Friday.

But the legislators, while sympathetic, warned that the chances for quick state action are remote.

“Equity means you have to take away from somebody else,” said state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), who chairs the Senate Local Government Committee. “Those that have it want to keep it.”

Board of Supervisors Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez, who initiated the meetings with the legislators, acknowledged that progress on the tax distribution issue may be slow. But he said it was important to start the process rolling, adding that the county will continue to press its case in the coming months and years.

Meanwhile, Vasquez and other board members used Friday’s session to lay out other legislative issues that they believe would help Orange County cope with its many problems.

Among those issues:

* Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder asked legislators to consider sponsoring a bill to make parents responsible for the actions of their children, a move she hopes will help curtail gang violence.

* Supervisor Don R. Roth complained that restrictions by the Air Quality Management Board, whose members he called the “airheads on the air board,” are holding up progress for commuter rail in Orange County.

* Supervisor Thomas F. Riley told the legislators that the county is looking for guidance and help in dealing with its ever-expanding indigent population and the health care needs that has created.

* Vasquez urged the group to press for new laws that would allow the county to contract out more services with private companies.

Although the legislators and supervisors agreed on most issues, almost every person in the room Friday was a Republican, and Democrats control the state Legislature. That has hampered the effectiveness of Orange County’s legislative contingent, and few of the members were willing to promise that many of the board’s recommendations could be easily achieved.