Property Owners Can Lend a Hand
* I would like to propose a partial solution to the Orange County bankruptcy crisis.
The county could offer (assuming proper approval) a 5% property-tax discount per $1,000 lent by the owner to the county. For example, a property owner owing $1,400 a year could lend the county $1,000, entitling the owner to $50 off the property tax until the county repays it. Property owners paying $1,501 to $2,500 in taxes could lend $2,000 with $100 taken off their bill, and so on.
How much would be raised? How could anybody know?
I believe that if Orange County residents were presented with a way that they could willingly help the county through this financial nightmare, they would respond.
After all, this is our land, our schools, our jobs, our roads, our lives. Everyone has an interest in seeing the county emerge, not just limping, but robustly from bankruptcy.
My wife and I are recent first-time home buyers in Westminster. We have a deep interest in seeing Orange County move ahead.
Even with the sacrifice it would take to make this loan, we would gladly do it to help Orange County prosper again.
DAVID L. GUTEL
Westminster
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
