Homeowners Find New Park Assessment Adds Mightily to Tax Bills : Revenues: Those living mostly on large lots in remote areas of the county have seen huge increases because of Proposition A. Officials admit that a small fraction of properties may have been figured incorrectly.

Ted Schnaidt likes parks as well as the next guy. Providing a green oasis here and there in the midst of Los Angeles County’s urban sprawl is a good thing, he agrees.

But the 63-year-old Antelope Valley man was unprepared for the tax bill he recently received. General tax levy, $915.52. OK. Special water fee, $88.03, Hmm. Solid waste fee, $3.51. Fine. L.A. County Park District assessment, $5,694.10. Yikes!

Schnaidt is one of hundreds of property owners, living mostly on large lots in remote areas of the county, who have seen their tax bills increase by hundreds or thousands of dollars this year because of a new park district assessment that will generate $48 million a year for refurbishment of parks and recreation facilities.

County officials say they have been inundated with calls from concerned and confused residents and admit that assessments on a small fraction of the parcels may have been figured incorrectly.

“We don’t think it’s widespread, but, of course, that is no consolation for those people who have a problem,” said Karalyn Wallensak, an administrator with the county Department of Parks and Recreation.

Most of the more egregious errors should be quickly corrected, while other disputed assessments will be reviewed, Wallensak said. But property owners requesting a review of their bills must pay the first installment by Dec. 10 or they will be subject to penalties.

The predicament has people such as Schnaidt outraged and has attracted the attention of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which says it will mount a campaign to rescind the assessment.

“It’s a totally irresponsible thing,” said Schnaidt, a special effects maker for the entertainment industry who lives with his wife in the small community of Llano. “We don’t live a very elaborate lifestyle. We don’t drive new cars. There’s no way I can afford to pay it, and I’m not going to.”

The assessment is the product of Proposition A, which voters approved overwhelmingly last November. It created a $540-million assessment district aimed at improving parks and beaches, acquiring open space, constructing recreation facilities for young people and senior citizens and preventing graffiti.

The assessment, applied to nearly all 2.2 million parcels of land in the county, is based on the amount and use of the land. The formulas are complex, and depend on whether the land is vacant, improved, partially improved or used for commercial or industrial purposes. Agricultural lands are exempt.

Vacant land is assessed at a rate of $22 per acre, to a maximum of five acres. Under the formula, property owners with even huge vacant lots should not have to pay more than about $110.

Single-family homes are calculated by a slightly different formula, and a home on one-seventh of an acre would be assessed $12.52.

County officials are advising homeowners with an assessment of more than $120 and owners of agricultural lands who show an assessment to write and request a review.

Joel Fox, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., said the assessment amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment for some landowners.”

“It seems a lot of people are being told that these huge increases are not a mistake, but are based on the formula (for calculating the assessment). The thing is that if you want to change the formula, you have to go back to the ballot,” Fox said.

Wallensak admitted that officials are baffled by some of the enormous amounts showing up on bills.

One Sherman Oaks woman received a $21,600 park assessment, while an Antelope Valley rancher ended up with an $11,000 assessment, Wallensak said.

Regina Buehrle, 56, lives with her husband in a home on 160 acres of picturesque hills near Acton. The couple received a park assessment of $3,500.

“It’s a good thing I was sitting down after I realized I wasn’t reading it wrong,” Buehrle said. “My husband is getting ready to retire in January and we will be on a reduced income. We might be able to manage to pay it this time around but in the future, I don’t think so. We might end up having to dump our property and leave the state; in this economy, there’s not much hope of selling it.”

Even nonprofit property owners such as the Boy Scouts have not been spared. The Western Los Angeles County Council received a whopping $24,000 park assessment on five campsites it owns. One parcel--the 600-acre Camp Jubilee in Pinion Hills--accounted for $17,000 of the total, said Scout executive Hugh Travis. The Boy Scouts have asked parks officials to review the assessments.

Property owners who would like to request a review should write to:

Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District c/o Department of Parks and Recreation, 433 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles CA 90020, Attn: Assessment Review. Or call (213) 738-2981.