PORT HUENEME : City Increases Beach Maintenance Tax

Despite angry protests by homeowners, the Port Hueneme City Council voted 3 to 0 Wednesday to reauthorize a controversial tax district for another year and to increase the assessments.

Five residents who live in the beach maintenance assessment district told council members that the tax is unfair and it should be scrapped. But city officials said the district is needed to help pay for cleaning Port Hueneme Beach in an era of declining city revenues.

Councilmen Ken Hess and Dorill B. Wright abstained from the vote because they live inside the district.

The district “is being used to maintain a city asset that benefits the whole city at the expense of a few,” said resident Chris Pulos. “The beach is available to all the citizens of Port Hueneme, and its upkeep should be borne by all.”

About 1,200 property owners who live south of Hueneme Road will pay assessments ranging between $79 and $200, based on the size of their property and its proximity to the beach. The $157,500 that will be raised in fiscal 1992-93 will pay about one-third the cost of maintaining the beach, said Laura Phillips, an engineering technician for the city. The remainder will come from the general fund.

The assessments are 5% higher than last year, an increase needed to offset the higher costs of maintenance, Phillips said.

A group of beach-area property owners have sued the city over the assessments, saying they are illegally based on a homeowner’s view of the ocean. City officials have disputed the allegation made against the city, which established the district in July, 1991.