CAMARILLO : Mosquito Control Proposal Rejected

The Camarillo City Council has turned down a proposal to charge Camarillo property owners $1.12 per year to pay for a Ventura County-run mosquito control program.

With some council members saying they wanted to send a message of protest to the county, the council voted 3 to 2 against the Board of Supervisors’ proposal to pass on insect-control costs to property owners.

Council members considered but opted against using city funds to pay Camarillo’s $20,000 share of the program in the next fiscal year.

Although the council left open the possibility that it will decide within the next few months to pay for the program from city coffers, its action Wednesday night makes Camarillo the only Ventura County city that has not approved some type of mosquito control program for the next fiscal year.

Six of the county’s 10 cities have approved the county’s proposal to charge property owners for mosquito control.

Simi Valley and Oxnard decided to pay for the county mosquito program from city funds rather than pass the charges on to property owners. And Moorpark has its own mosquito control program.

Camarillo Councilman Stanley J. Daily said he is concerned about charging property assessment fees to pay for government programs.

“The citizens have already paid their taxes to the county to do county things and to come back to the citizens is just another way of placing a tax on them,” Daily said.

Although council members Ken Gose and David Smith said they have similar concerns, they dissented, saying they believed that the city should have a mosquito control program next year.

County officials said they will not spray for mosquitoes or take other insect-control measures in Camarillo after July 1 unless the city helps fund the program.

The council is expected to reconsider funding the program when it sets its 1993-94 budget in the next few months. “I think the net result is we’ll be paying for it out of the general fund,” Smith said.