User Fees Based on Residency

* An attempt to impose a fee on parking at the Ventura Harbor, another parking fee levied on beach goers and the Adventure Pass fee imposed on national forest visitors have left me wondering why I have so dutifully been paying taxes all these years.

Too often, local government officials fall back on the people rather than themselves to solve their ills. It is an easy way out to insist that only an additional parking fee--what amounts to an additional tax--will keep figures in the black.

The federal government has done the same in regard to the Adventure Pass. Unable or unwilling to do what it takes to stay in business, the government has relied on us, the citizens, to bail it out.

When political issues become divisive, some manner of compromise is often the only means available. Given that local taxpaying residents should be given unimpeded access to lands they already support, I suggest that parking and user fees should apply only to those who do not contribute to our tax base.

Ventura city residents should be allowed to obtain a free beach access ID from City Hall. This might be issued yearly to all residents who have tendered a driver’s license to prove their local residency. Similarly, Ventura County residents might be issued a free pass for access to that portion of Los Padres National Forest that lies within Ventura County.

This compromise would make money available to the city from visitors who do not already contribute regularly to the tax base that sustains our beaches, as well as to the national forest from visitors who live outside our county. Might this not be a compromise worth considering?

LARRY CARDOZO

Ventura