Thousand Oaks : City Balks at Tax for Mosquito Control

In a harsh slap at Ventura County, the Thousand Oaks City Council has balked at a proposed assessment tax to cover the cost of mosquito control.

The county Board of Supervisors has requested that cities tax their property owners $1.52 per parcel in 1993 and $1.12 in subsequent years to fund mosquito-abatement services and public education about other pests.

But at Tuesday’s heated council meeting, Thousand Oaks leaders criticized the county for passing off the dirty work of taxation onto the cities. They agreed to postpone a final vote on the matter for two weeks, while city staff members examine the feasibility of contracting with Los Angeles County for mosquito-abatement services.

“This city was incorporated on the basis that we would not ever implement a property tax,” said Councilman Alex Fiore, who has served for more than 30 years. “I know it’s a very small amount, but philosophically, I have a problem with it. This is a property tax and we have never imposed a property tax on the people unless they voted for it, whether it’s $1 or $100.”

Mayor Judy Lazar agreed. “We are asked to become the imposing body, and that does not sit well with me,” she said. “I’m concerned about taking on a responsibility that the county has traditionally provided.”

Reminding his colleagues that Thousand Oaks saved more than $61,000 last year by purchasing animal-control services from Los Angeles rather than Ventura County, Councilman Frank Schillo said, “There must be a better way to do this.”

If Thousand Oaks rejects the tax, the county will restrict its mosquito-related services--including on-site inspection, surveillance of insect-transmitted diseases, public education and biological and chemical control--to sites along designated flood-control channels. The city would be on its own battling mosquitoes elsewhere in Thousand Oaks, said Donald Koepp, director of the county’s Environmental Health Department.

While Koepp argued that a countywide service would be more efficient and cost-effective than a city-sponsored program, he said he would support Thousand Oaks’ decision as long as it adequately protected the population against diseases like encephalitis, malaria and Lyme disease.