Panel Seeks Bill on Preserving Open Space

An advisory panel has asked Ventura County supervisors to push for a new state law that would allow local voters to decide whether to impose a 1/8-cent sales-tax increase to preserve open space.

Money generated by the tax -- about $11.5 million a year -- would provide funding for a proposed open-space district that would acquire and manage undeveloped land throughout the county.

Officials with the countywide Open Space Advisory Committee said they have not decided how the district should be funded. They are, however, urging supervisors to work with legislators to write a bill that would allow the tax question to be put on the March 2004 ballot.

Creation of the open-space district itself would also be on the same ballot.

“If we don’t get that legislation now, it won’t be open to us later,” committee co-Chairman Jim Engel said. “We want to keep our options open.”

Counties may place a sales-tax increase of 1/4-cent or higher on a ballot without legislative approval, but anything less must be authorized by the Legislature. A sales-tax proposal would have to be submitted to the state by Jan. 24 and introduced in the Legislature by Feb. 21 to be considered for approval in 2003.

Supervisors are expected to consider the advisory committee’s request early next year, said Engel, who heads the Ojai Land Conservancy. That nonprofit group has purchased and preserved open space in the Ojai Valley for 16 years.

The advisory panel also is looking at alternative ways to generate money for the proposed district, including a so-called parcel-tax increase. To pass, such a tax would have to be approved by a majority of the affected property owners. A special sales-tax increase would require approval by two-thirds of the voters.

“The committee is not recommending at this time that your board designate a 1/8-cent sales-tax increase as the funding measure,” Engel and committee co-Chairman Joe Gibson said in a letter to supervisors. “The committee continues to analyze funding options and believes all options are still under consideration.”

While the proposed sales-tax increase would generate about $11.5 million based on figures from the 2001-02 fiscal year, the amount a property assessment would collect is not yet known, said county planner Debby Millais, who is working with the advisory committee to develop an open-space district.

In addition to the funding question, voters are expected to decide in March 2004 whether such a district should be created and how it should be governed if formed.

The 41-member advisory panel was so divided on the governance issue last month that it asked the Board of Supervisors for guidance. Supervisors suggested the committee delay an early decision on the issue.

Some advisory members believe the five supervisors should have decision-making authority over the district’s purse strings because they already represent voters countywide.

But others argue the public does not trust the county board to spend wisely. If supervisors are put in charge, that faction says, voters would be less willing to tax themselves to preserve open space.

An appointed board, or one independently elected, are better options, argue the opponents of a supervisor-controlled board. A 2001 public-opinion survey supports that view.

Respondents selected the Board of Supervisors as their least-favorite choice for administering the proposed district. Those responding in the September 2001 poll commissioned by the county said they preferred either an elected or appointed panel.