Council Urges College District to Cancel Property Assessment

A divided Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday urged the board of the Los Angeles Community College District to withdraw its recently approved property assessment or put the matter to voters in November.

Several lawmakers asked their colleagues to leave the issue alone, noting the importance of the community college system to California’s future as well as voters’ perennial distaste for the colleges’ bids for funds.

But a bare council majority rejected those pleas, saying the college board’s use of an assessment district to raise taxes without voter approval would further erode residents’ trust in government and make it more difficult for other agencies--including the council--to win approval for tax measures.

“We’re all going to pay the price,” said Councilman Joel Wachs, who led a rally last week against the proposed tax. “They’re going to get their small amount of money . . . and they’re going to undercut . . . everyone else who has to go to the voters.”

The council’s request is not binding on the college district.

The college district’s trustees voted 4 to 3 last week to begin placing a $12-a-year levy on all homeowners in the sprawling 882-square-mile district to raise $205 million over two decades.