MISSION VIEJO : Aegean Hills Assessed $74 Per Household

The county drove a hard deal before allowing Mission Viejo to annex the Aegean Hills community last year.

On Monday, the City Council voted 3-1 for a special assessment for Aegean Hills residents of up to $74 per household for park and landscape maintenance, a levy city officials said is necessary because the county is receiving 84% of property taxes from Aegean Hills that would normally help pay for such services.

The revenue from the assessment will pay for maintaining parks, landscaping slopes and street medians and sweeping streets. The cost for providing the services is about $350,000 a year. Residents will pay $134,000 annually, with the difference coming out of city coffers.

About half a dozen residents turned out to protest the assessment.

Karen Irvine, president of the Aegean Hills Homeowners Assn., said the levy will make the community feel like “we’ll always be different, always be separate . . . from the rest of Mission Viejo.”

Susan Gattis told the council she was disappointed that the community wasn’t apprised of the levy during last year’s annexation hearings. “I really resent hearing (about the levy) a year later,” she said.

Council members said an agreement with the county over dividing Aegean Hills’ property tax revenue was not finalized until after the annexation hearings.

After losing millions of dollars in property tax revenue from several cityhood drives in South County in recent years, the county decided last year to take a tough negotiating stance on future annexations and incorporation.

The council majority also stressed that they were just trying to balance the budget--not trying to treat Aegean Hills differently from the rest of the city. Council members also said the levy will not be automatically renewed next year.

“I’m not happy with it, but I think this year we have no choice,” said Councilwoman Sharon Cody. “We do believe (Aegean Hills) should be a part of Mission Viejo.”

Mayor Robert D. Breton, the only council member to vote against the assessment, said he would rather not impose a levy on Aegean Hills residents that isn’t shared by the whole city.

“I don’t think we should let monetary considerations separate us today,” he said, adding that the assessment will inflame a sense of alienation between the Aegean Hills community and the rest of Mission Viejo.