Heads of Homeowner Groups Endorse Tax

The presidents of seven Agoura Hills homeowner organizations have endorsed a controversial utility tax that will go before voters June 25.

In a declaration urging voters to support a measure asking voters to uphold the assessment, the group called the tax “a pennies a day investment that is keeping our city one of the finest in Southern California.”

The City Council passed the tax in 1994, saying additional revenues were needed to maintain streets and roads and other infrastructure, and to fund services such as law enforcement protection. Cuts would ruin the quality of life in the city and hurt real estate values in the long run, the declaration said.

Since the assessment was passed, a local anti-tax group has been trying to get the city to rescind the tax. The group claims the city has wasted money and that the tax was unnecessary. Eventually, the group was able to pressure the city to place the assessment on the ballot.

Supporters of the tax were dealt a setback recently, when for the second time the Agoura Chamber of Commerce declined to endorse the tax.

The endorsement by the homeowners’ groups presidents may help supporters of the assessment in the election, City Manager Dave Adams said.

Barbara Murphy, leader of the anti-tax group, said the real problem is that the city has wasted money on skyrocketing legal fees, among other things.