Supervisor’s Absence Likely to Postpone a Vote on Library Tax

With a key panel member absent, Ventura County Supervisor Maggie Kildee said she will ask the board to postpone action today that would formally set in motion plans to establish a parcel tax to help pay for library services.

Kildee said she would prefer to wait until Supervisor John K. Flynn returns from a trip to Washington, D.C. before voting on the matter.

“As far as I know, he’s still supporting this and it would be foolish not to have his vote,” Kildee said. “So I think it would make sense to continue it.”

Reached by telephone in Washington, Flynn said he continues to favor establishing a benefit assessment district--which could levy a $30 to $35 annual tax on property owners--to help the troubled county library system.

“I haven’t changed my mind,” he said. “I think the timing is right, and we should do it.”

The board voted 4 to 1 last week to approve “in concept” the establishment of a benefit assessment district. Their action was also contingent on the six cities served by the county library system endorsing the plan.

Since then, county officials have been barraged with complaints from residents about the potential library assessment. And Supervisor Frank Schillo says now he will withdraw his support.

Schillo said he only gave tentative approval to the assessment district to give the board another week to gather more detailed information about how it would be implemented before making a final decision. A report is to be presented to the board today.

“I’m going to change my vote,” he said. “My vote was only to get it discussed.”

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After studying the issue, Schillo said he is convinced that a statewide initiative on the November ballot could potentially void a library assessment, or at least cause it to be challenged in court. The so-called Jarvis-Gann initiative seeks to restrict local governments from assessing property owners for certain services.

If approved, the initiative could force the county to put the library parcel tax on the ballot--meaning it would require approval of two-thirds of county voters, Schillo said.

Rather than risk a showdown over the initiative, the supervisor said, the county should just begin planning to put the library measure on the ballot.

“If [a parcel tax] is such a good idea--and I think it is a good idea--then let’s put it on the ballot and let the people vote for it,” Schillo said.

The board initially planned to place an advisory vote on the library assessment on the November ballot. But the supervisors decided to scrap that plan because they believed it would be tough to compete for voter attention with a presidential election and several statewide ballot measures.

Instead, Flynn suggested last week that the board use the results of a recent telephone survey to gauge the public’s support for an assessment district. Of the 801 people interviewed in the county-commissioned poll, 71% said they would support a library tax when told that the money would be used for new books, increased operating hours and children’s programs.

But even though he continues to support the library assessment, Flynn said that it will ultimately be up to the six cities to determine whether it is implemented.

“I stand by my vote,” he said. “And I think the cities ought to come with us.” If the cities oppose the assessment, though, Flynn said he will support holding a special election in March.

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Reaction was mixed Monday among representatives from some of the cities.

Ventura Mayor Jack Tingstrom said he would not support the assessment district, saying voters in his city already struck down a parcel tax for library services last November. Even though a majority of voters supported the tax, a two-thirds majority was needed for passage.

“When you just had a city vote and the people said no, what would you do?” he said.

But Camarillo Mayor David Smith said he favored the library assessment because a majority of voters in his city expressed support for a parcel tax in the March primary election. That measure, too, was defeated because it did not garner two-thirds approval.

“My personal opinion is there is evidence that there there is widespread support in Camarillo,” Smith said. “I have no concerns about wondering whether the citizens will support this. I think they have and they will.”

Fillmore Mayor Roger Campbell and Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said they would not support an assessment district.

“I don’t think my council will support it,” Stratton said. “I have very good grounds to make that a safe bet.”

Mike Saliba, president of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn., said he also believed the board’s action was misguided.

“Whether you favor libraries or not, I think it’s unjustified to put together an assessment district without a vote of the people,” he said.

But Supervisor Kildee said she believes that the process for establishing an assessment district gives property owners a say in the matter.

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Before an assessment district is established, all property owners would be mailed postcards asking if they oppose it. If the county receives protests from property owners collectively paying 25% of the total amount raised annually, the county would be forced to hold a special election.

“Every property owner will be notified, and they have a right to say yes or no,” Kildee said. “It’s so upfront and public and straightforward, it’s not like we’re trying to get away with anything.”