Tax Hike Rejection Forces R.P.V. to Cut Back--Fast

Because Rancho Palos Verdes voters rejected raising parcel taxes to bail the city out of its financial troubles, officials must now cut $2 million to $3 million from next year’s budget. And do it in a hurry.

Among the cost-cutting ideas being discussed are halting $50,000-a-year repairs for landslide damage to Palos Verdes Drive South and dropping the city’s share of funding for the Peninsula’s shuttle bus service.

The measure, which would have added $200 a year to the property tax bills of most homeowners, was defeated 52.8% to 47.2% in Tuesday’s election. Only 25% of the city’s 27,500 registered voters went to the polls.

“We can’t print money,” said a disappointed Mayor John C. McTaggart. “This means we’ll have to make some very drastic changes.”

Revenues from the tax would have brought in about $3 million a year, allowing the city to wipe out its $2.4-million deficit from the 1992-93 budget and provide some fiscal breathing room.

The cuts will mean “we won’t be providing much in the way of service,” City Manager Paul Bussey said.

In addition to slashing more services from an already austere budget, city officials will now be scrambling to find new sources of revenue. Special-use taxing districts and a steep “pay as you go” fee structure on all city services are being discussed.

The City Council will have to act quickly to have a revised 1992-93 budget in place by July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, McTaggart said.

“We can’t start the fiscal year with one foot on a banana peel,” McTaggart said.

There is even talk of raising money by selling the city’s $700,000 share of the county transit tax revenues that now help pay for the Palos Verdes Peninsula transit system shuttle buses. The future of the shuttles, which provide curb-to-curb service throughout the Peninsula, could be jeopardized if Rancho Palos Verdes does not participate.

Other cities are willing to pay up to 66 cents for each dollar of Rancho Palos Verdes’ transit revenues, Councilwoman Susan Brooks said.

Brooks also questioned whether the city could afford to keep open Palos Verdes Drive South in the Portuguese Bend area because of repairs that cost up to $50,000 a year. Brooks said a toll road through the area has been suggested as a way to raise enough money to pay for damage caused by a slow-creeping landslide that is ripping the road apart.

The financial problems of this troubled city of 42,000 have been building for several years.

The largest of the four cities on the affluent Palos Verdes Peninsula, Rancho Palos Verdes is an upscale bedroom community that has shunned commercial development. Taxes and municipal spending have always been low.

Last year, the city spent only $179 per capita on general fund services, compared to $592 in Manhattan Beach and $763 in Torrance, records show. That number will be even lower next year, officials said.

Like a lot of other cities, Rancho Palos Verdes was hard hit by Proposition 13 taxing limits in the 1980s, and it is feeling the impact of the current recession. Faced with a huge budget shortfall next year, the city laid off 20% of its 50 full-time employees and cut back on services. More layoffs are expected, officials said.

Tuesday’s tax measure would have imposed a $200 parcel tax on most homeowners. Apartment owners would have paid $75 a year per unit and undeveloped land would have been taxed at $50 an acre. That would have raised $3 million a year, enough to get the city out of the red.

Without more money, city officials said there will be no way to repair badly run-down streets and storm drains, there will be cuts in park maintenance and recreation programs, and City Hall may even be closed a day or two a week.

FINAL ELECTION RESULTS

Key to Election Tables

-- An asterisk (*) denotes incumbent candidate.

-- A double asterisk (**) indicates an individual who withdrew from the election but is still on the ballot.

-- Elected candidates and measures--or those leading with 99% of precincts reporting, are in bold type.

-- The counting of absentee ballots may affect the outcome of some races.

AVALON 3 of 3 precincts. MAYOR Votes (%) Hugh T. Smith * 568 (66.7) Hal Host (write-in) 284 (33.3) CITY COUNCIL 2 Elected Ralph Morrow Jr. 486 (26.8) Norman Stow * 396 (21.8) George Scott 338 (18.6) Paul Puma * 258 (14.2) Sophie Tarbuck 256 (14.1) Mike Leo 79 (4.4) CITY TREASURER Harry Stiritz Jr. * 551 (61.2) Christine Graham 349 (38.8)

CARSON 30 of 30 precincts. CITY COUNCIL 3 Elected Votes (%) Pete Fajardo 3,997 (19.5) Michael I. Mitoma * 3,882 (18.9) Kay A. Calas * 3,171 (15.5) James H. Peoples 2,147 (10.5) Vera Robles DeWitt * 2,089 (10.2) Carl E. Robinson Sr. 1,797 (8.8) Ralph Quinte 1,754 (8.6) Larry E. Grant 994 (4.8) M. (Lourdes) Tipton 363 (1.8) Iragayle (Gayle) Lucretia Konig 310 (1.5) MEASURES --Shall the electors elect a mayor and four City Council members? Yes 5,438 (80.1) No 1,354 (19.9) --Shall the term of office of mayor be two years? Yes 4,056 (67.3) No 1,971 (32.7) --Shall the term of office of mayor be four years? Yes 2,852 (48.0) No 3,085 (52.0)

EL SEGUNDO 5 of 5 precincts. CITY COUNCIL 3 Elected Votes (%) Carl Jacobson * 2,467 (24.3) Richard Switz 2,170 (21.3) Michael Robbins 2,030 (20.0) Janice Cruikshank * 1,765 (17.4) Blake Mitchell 1,733 (17.0) CITY CLERK Cindy Mortesen 2,075 (57.9) Ronald L. Hart * 1,506 (42.1) MEASURE K--$120 a year parcel tax to benefit schools. Requires Two-Thirds Vote Yes 2,365 (61.3) No 1,490 (38.7)

GARDENA 27 of 27 precincts. MAYOR Votes (%) Donald L. Dear * 5,318 (89.5) Edmund K. Enos 622 (10.5) CITY TREASURER Lorenzo Ybarra * 3,915 (65.7) Jonathan Kaji 2,045 (34.3) CITY COUNCIL 2 Elected James W. Cragin * 3,464 (35.1) Paul Y. Tsukahara * 3,227 (32.7) Steven Bradford 3,184 (32.2)

LAWNDALE 8 of 8 precincts. CITY COUNCIL 2 Elected Votes (%) Nancy J. Marthens 849 (24.3) Norman P. Lagerquist * 721 (20.6) Bruce R. McKee 703 (20.1) Carol C. Norman * 658 (18.8) Steve A. Mino 564 (16.1) MAYOR Harold E. Hofmann * 999 (53.3) William R. Johnson 570 (30.4) Virginia M. Rhodes 305 (16.3) MEASURE General Plan Yes 631 (35.2) No 1,160 (64.8)

LOMITA 7 of 7 precincts. CITY COUNCIL 2 Elected Votes (%) Charles Belba * 871 (39.3) Harold S. (Hal) Croyts * 706 (31.8) Lawson Pedigo 418 (18.8) George Green 223 (10.1)

MANHATTAN BEACH 19 of 19 precincts. CITY COUNCIL 3 Elected Votes (%) Steven A. Napolitano 2,832 (18.4) Tim Lilligren 2,657 (17.2) Steve Barnes * 2,497 (16.2) Patricia (Pat) Collins * 2,385 (15.5) Philip (Tom) Lieb 2,145 (13.9) James A. Shalvoy 1,480 (9.6) John S. (Rocky) Miller Jr. 843 (5.5) Claudia K. Medl-Rilling 567 (3.7) CITY TREASURER Stephen A. Schlesinger * 3,261 (63.4) Milo Wolff 1,886 (36.6) MEASURE Term limits--Should the City Council request the state Legislature set a two-term limit for City Council members in general law cities? Yes 3,643 (77.8) No 1,040 (22.2)

PALOS VERDES ESTATES 9 of 9 precincts. CITY COUNCIL 2 Elected Votes (%) James R. Nyman * 1,238 (39.9) Raymond D. Mattingly * 1,159 (37.3) Ruth McGrew 708 (22.8)

RANCHO PALOS VERDES 25 of 25 precincts. MEASURE Votes (%) Parcel tax--Tax to help cover the city’s budget deficit. Yes 3,258 (47.2) No 3,648 (52.8)

ROLLING HILLS 1 of 1 precincts. CITY COUNCIL 2 Elected Votes (%) Thomas F. Heinsheimer * 310 (41.4) Godfrey Pernell * 296 (39.5) Frank Hill 143 (19.1)