Comments Sought on Montalvo Annexation : Incorporation: An earlier attempt to make the area part of Ventura failed, but support has increased. A hearing is scheduled for tonight.

A plan to annex portions of unincorporated Montalvo to the city of Ventura is scheduled to go to a public hearing before the Ventura City Council tonight, three years after taxpayers blocked a similar bid.

This time, the annexation plan might succeed, officials say.

In 1989, more than half the property owners in the quiet residential neighborhood bordering eastern Ventura opposed annexation.

At the time, they feared that living in Ventura would cost them more in taxes and utility fees than living in unincorporated Ventura County, said Robert Braitman, executive officer of the county Local Agency Formation Commission.

But this year, there are more supporters of the plan and they have brought the idea to LAFCO once again, Braitman said.

About three-fourths of the property owners have given their written consent to the plan, and if none of them withdraw their support, the City Council is required by law to approve the annexation, he said.

“It’s financially advantageous to be in the city,” Braitman said Friday. “The city charges 70% more for water if you’re not in the city.”

The village of Montalvo was founded more than 100 years ago, and some landowners retained their autonomy from city government even as Ventura expanded eastward from its downtown and surrounded them in the 1960s and ‘70s, Braitman said.

Now, single-family houses sit on most of the 47 parcels of unincorporated land remaining in Montalvo. The parcels up for annexation are surrounded roughly by Victoria Avenue, Moon Drive and Katherine Avenue.

The annexation would also include 35.6 acres of undeveloped land off Saticoy Avenue, where Wittenberg, Livingston Inc. plans to build 100 units of affordable housing. Wittenberg has consented to the annexation, City Manager John Baker said.

Property owners whose land is annexed to Ventura will wind up paying less overall in property taxes and utility fees, Baker and Braitman said.

County guidelines for development dictate that such islands should be absorbed into the cities surrounding them wherever possible, Braitman said.

Residents’ tax bills are slightly higher inside the city than they are outside, and they must pay a 5% tax to the city on utility bills, including electricity, gas, telephone and cable TV, Braitman said.

However, city residents do not have to pay the 70% surcharge on city water fees levied on water customers who live outside Ventura, he said.

And services such as police and fire will improve for Montalvo taxpayers whose properties are absorbed into Ventura, Baker said.

City fire and police officials in nearby stations already answer calls in Montalvo in a matter of minutes, but only on an emergency basis, Baker said.

Meanwhile, the county fire and sheriff’s departments now take longer to answer non-emergency calls than city departments because their stations, such as the nearest sheriff’s station in Oak View, are farther from Montalvo, he said.

Some residents say they still believe that annexation will cost them more in taxes than they pay now for living in unincorporated Ventura County--and they disbelieve what officials are telling them about the cost.

“It’s not going to save you money; it’s going to cost you money,” said Ralph Weigle, who owns a house on Moon Drive. “They tell you all these things, but if you make them come out and prove them to you with eyeball-to-eyeball discussions, they have a hard time proving it.”

As for the officials’ assertion that taxes paid on newly annexed property will cover the cost of increased Ventura fire and police service, Weigle said, “I don’t buy that.”

Braitman said the council must decide on annexation based only on written responses to the plan.

However, he said remarks at tonight’s public hearing could tip the balance away from annexation if speakers persuade any of the supporters to withdraw their letters favoring of the plan.

The council must veto the annexation proposal if more than half the affected property owners file written objections with the Ventura city clerk.

However, the council can call an election for registered voters in unincorporated Montalvo to decide whether the area should be annexed if 25% to 50% of them file written objections.