Metro Rail Assessment District Urged

A Los Angeles County transportation panel recommended Wednesday that assessment districts be formed to help pay for eight planned Metro Rail Red Line Subway stations, including sites in North Hollywood and Universal City.

The idea is to raise about $75 million in fees from property owners within half a mile of the proposed stations, including $8.25 million in fees for the Universal City station and $5.25 million for the North Hollywood station.

The Finance, Budget and Efficiency Committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted unanimously to recommend that the MTA move ahead with the adoption of the districts, a fairly common way to raise funds from businesses in the vicinity of major public projects. In the case of the Red Line stations, property owners will pay a fee based on the amount of real estate they hold.

The entire MTA board of directors will vote on the assessment districts at its regular meeting Oct. 27.

The proposal to create the assessment districts has been delayed for nearly three years while a legal battle over the constitutionality of the districts has been waged. The battle ended in June, 1992, when the U. S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thereby upholding an earlier decision of California’s Supreme Court that the districts were legal.