Council Accepts Plan to End Beach Fee
The Port Hueneme City Council has accepted a task force proposal to end a controversial beach maintenance fee that some property owners said amounted to a tax on their ocean views.
On Wednesday, the council unanimously agreed to merge the beach maintenance assessment district with a citywide park district. The proposal would lower taxes of property owners within the beach district by as much as $150 a year, but increase taxes on other residents by about $18 a year.
Last year, Port Hueneme raised $457,500 in revenues from the two special assessment districts to help maintain public parks and the beach. Of that, the park district generated $300,000 and the beach district $157,000.
“The Blue Ribbon Task Force felt there was a benefit citywide from Hueneme Beach, and that all citizens should participate” in paying for their upkeep, said Councilman Dorill B. Wright, chairman of the citizen task force.
“The net effect is a spreading, if you will, of part of the cost of maintaining the beach across the rest of the city,” Wright said.
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