Tax Increase Is Proposed for Ballot

Ventura County property owners will be asked to approve an increase in property taxes to cover the higher costs of mosquito-control programs.

A fixed annual assessment of $1.12 per single-family home would rise to $4 for the 2004-05 fiscal year, which begins July 1, under a proposed ballot measure approved by Ventura County supervisors Tuesday.

But the levy would fall to $2.59 per home the following fiscal year, after the costs of the mail-in election had been covered, officials said. Property owners should receive ballots in coming weeks, officials said.

Environmental health managers said the current rate no longer met the cost of treating more than 1,300 mosquito-breeding creeks, streams and pools across the county. Controlling mosquitoes reduces public exposure to such diseases as encephalitis and West Nile virus, said Robert Gallagher, director of the county’s Environmental Health Division.

Ventura County officials confirmed the presence of West Nile virus last month when a dead crow found in Ojai tested positive for the disease. The virus, which can cause severe health problems, has been working its way across the country over the last several years.