Board Moves to Create Tax District for Library Aid

Despite warnings that they may be challenged in court, a majority of Ventura County supervisors voted Tuesday to initiate plans for a special tax district to help pay for library services.

The board voted 3 to 2 to move forward with establishment of a benefit assessment district, which would levy a $33 annual tax on homeowners.

But the supervisors said it will be several months before a library assessment could actually be implemented. They said they want to wait for a consultant’s study due in September on a proposed reorganization of the library system.

The board’s action Tuesday is also subject to approval of the six cities served by the county library system. Any city could exclude itself from the assessment district, and the county could proceed with the remaining cities. The cities are not expected to take up the matter until they see the consultant’s report.

Still, supervisors said they were pleased to at least set the plans in motion, rather than put off a decision.

“It seems to me we have an obligation to either fish or cut bait, to move forward with something,” Supervisor Maggie Kildee said. “With no other source of funding, we’re going to find ourselves closing libraries.”

Supervisor John Flynn agreed.

“This is going to give the cities time to contemplate [an assessment],” he said. “But like any issue, you’ve got to start the momentum. And that’s what this does.”

But Supervisors Frank Schillo and Judy Mikels warned that the assessment district could be challenged in court or outright invalidated if a statewide, anti-tax initiative is approved by voters in November. County counsel has advised the board that Proposition 218 would void an assessment district.

Schillo and Mikels said they preferred to hold a special election in March for a parcel tax, which would require the approval of two-thirds of voters.

By going with an assessment district, Schillo said, the board will only create opposition among some city officials and make it more difficult to get a parcel tax approved in a spring election.

“It’s going to be divisive,” Schillo said. “We’re just going to build in opposition [to a parcel tax].”

Kildee said the board’s action only begins the process of forming a benefit assessment district and that it would be after the November election before a library assessment is finally adopted.

Moving ahead, Kildee said, will give city councils in the six member cities time to debate the pros and cons of an assessment district. It will also give officials a chance to review the consultant’s report on the library reorganization.

Even if the statewide anti-tax initiative is approved in November, Kildee said, the board could still use the information it has gathered for a special tax election in March if necessary.

“It doesn’t close any of our options,” Kildee said of the proposed assessment district. “It keeps our options open.”

The proposal for an assessment district will now go to the city councils of Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Port Hueneme, Simi Valley and Ventura for consideration.

Once the participants are determined and the district boundaries established, notices will be sent to all property owners. If enough property owners protest the proposal at that point, the plans could be invalidated.

The supervisors agreed Tuesday to determine specific protest requirements at a later date.

But the board essentially has two choices. It could drop the library assessment if it receives protests from either 50% of the property owners in the district or landowners collectively paying 50% of the total amount raised annually.