Court OKs School Assessment to Fund Recreational Areas : Finances: A taxpayer group loses the first round but has appealed. Districts say the public uses the facilities and should pay to help maintain them.

A local school district’s controversial plan to raise millions of dollars through a property fee has cleared one legal hurdle and is headed full speed for the next.

A Superior Court judge has upheld the right of the Whittier Union High School District to charge property owners a fee for maintaining public recreational facilities owned by the school district. The ruling also applies to the Bonita Unified School District, a San Gabriel Valley school system that was sued for imposing a similar assessment.

But the decision prompted a quick appeal last week from an anti-tax group, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. The fee is an illegal property tax, said Joel Fox, president of the organization. He added that state law requires that such a fee be approved by two-thirds of the district’s voters before it can take effect.

School district officials say the fee is a fair way to share the expense of maintaining public basketball courts, auditoriums and fields. They argue that area residents and business owners should help pay for what they and their families use.

The outcome of the case is likely to affect school districts and property tax bills across the state.

“All the school districts in the state are going to jump on this,” Fox predicted, “if school districts have the ability to raise (taxes) just by the vote of the school board.”

The high school district approved the fee in July, 1991. It raised about $1.4 million last year by adding $20 a year to property tax bills for homeowners, $15.76 per apartment, condominium or mobile home and $50 an acre for owners of commercial properties. Owners of mines, farms and undeveloped land also had to pay fees.

Because of the legal challenge, the district has not spent the money it raised. It also decided against renewing the assessment for this year.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Aurelio Munoz held that the fee on property owners is legal because property owners benefit from the recreational program school districts provide.

“The determination is not without its problems and this court is well aware that the matter will ultimately be decided by a higher court,” Munoz noted.

Neither side expects the Court of Appeal to reach a decision before the end of the year.

Dozens of districts toyed with assessments but backed off when confronted by public outcry and legal threats. Whittier Union and Bonita Unified held firm. The districts joined together to oppose the Jarvis Assn. lawsuit.

The Whittier City School District, an elementary school district that feeds into Whittier Union, also approved an assessment fee last year. Whittier City has thus far escaped legal challenge.

That district raised $398,000 with its initial assessment of $22.50 for residences and most businesses, officials said. It has already started spending the money.

Whittier Union Supt. Lee Eastwood said he is confident that an appeals court will uphold the fee. He said any visitor to school grounds could learn why the fee is fair and justified.

“Come out here any night, and you’ll see the lights on the fields and hundreds of kids using them for soccer,” Eastwood said. “And on Saturday, thousands utilize the fields for activities from Pop Warner football to soccer to tennis. You name it. The facilities are open and available. And they cost significant dollars to maintain and keep up.”

For local residents, “the quality of life is better and property values are maintained” by having such recreational facilities, Eastwood said.

Jarvis Assn. officials countered that the school fee distorts the intention of the law that made assessments legal. Such fees are supposed to be used, for example, by homeowners who want a city to build a sidewalk in their neighborhood, lawyer Jonathan Coupal said. The city then apportions the cost of the sidewalk among the homeowners who share the benefit. Those who derive the most benefit pay a larger share.

Cities also use such assessments to pay for street lights in some areas, and fire departments use them to subsidize fire protection services.

The school district insists that it is no different than any other public entity charging a fee in exchange for a public service.

Eastwood said the money would not be directly used to pay for educational programs in the district of 9,400 students. In addition, the school district, which serves Whittier, Santa Fe Springs and parts of Norwalk and La Mirada, would only charge the public for 50% of the funded maintenance projects.

“We have estimated that we utilize those facilities about 50% of the time, and the community utilizes the other 50%,” Eastwood said.

Pending the result of the court case, the district will continue to pay for maintenance.