City Presses Supervisors for Payment

They weren’t trying to pick a fight, Thousand Oaks city leaders insist. But that’s what they got when they voted this week to bill the Ventura County Board of Supervisors $635,000 for services that the leafy, upscale city claims it is owed.

Thousand Oaks will press for that amount plus funds for future years during the supervisors’ budget hearings next month, Mayor Dennis Gillette said.

City officials contend that for years Thousand Oaks has had to pay for services -- hot meals for seniors, crossing guard protection and even below-market rent for a county supervisor’s office -- that should have been paid by the county.

With a budget flush with soaring property tax revenue, the county should subsidize the cost of those services, council members decided in a unanimous vote Tuesday.

The council will send the county a letter seeking $635,000 for 2006-07 and $550,000 a year for subsequent years. The city so far has not provided a breakdown of the cost estimates.

“The county is buying a new $14-million office building and is looking to expand its reserves,” Gillette said. “But they are not addressing where we have been required to pick up the costs for programs we used to jointly share with them.”

County officials responded that if the city wants cooperation, it is going about it the wrong way. County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston said that no one from the city ever called him to discuss the disputed costs.

“If someone called and said, ‘Hey, why don’t we talk about cost shifts over the years?’ that’s one thing,” Johnston said. “But they are making it sound like the county is freeloading off of the poor city of Thousand Oaks.”

Johnston and others say that the way the issue was raised -- at a public council meeting -- suggests politics may be a factor. A majority of the council has made no secret of its disdain for Supervisor Linda Parks, whose district includes Thousand Oaks.

Four of the five members of the council -- Gillette, Andy Fox, Tom Glancy and Jacqui Irwin -- have publicly endorsed Parks’ challenger in the June 6 primary, Joe Gibson.

County insiders say that Gibson could use the controversy to portray Parks as an ineffective public servant.

Parks said the timing of the action makes her suspicious. But she said she welcomes a full airing of the disputed financial issues.

An imbalance between property taxes paid by Thousand Oaks residents and county services received has long been a thorn in the city’s side. It has emerged in one form or another virtually since the city incorporated in 1964.

Yet the issue has receded in recent years as the county struggled through several lean budgets and weathered layoffs, job freezes and cuts in spending. This year, however, has marked a turning point. County budget analysts say that finances are improving, thanks in part to soaring property taxes.

The county is anticipating $146 million in property tax revenue for the upcoming budget year, an increase of $34 million from the 2004-05 fiscal year. Sales tax revenue, which makes up a smaller portion of the county’s general fund, is also increasing, analysts said.

In its letter to the Board of Supervisors, the Thousand Oaks council lists 10 programs and services that it says the city has subsidized after the county terminated funding for them.

Most of the claims are disputed by county officials.

For instance, the city claims that the county should still be paying for a special prosecutor to go after gang crimes in Thousand Oaks. But county analysts say the prosecutor’s position was paid out of a federal grant and that once the money ran out, the county bowed out.

City Manager Scott Mitnick acknowledges that the county did not default on payments or fail to provide agreed-upon services. But by dropping its funding, the county forced the city to pick up the slack or leave residents without services, Mitnick said.

Some of those receiving services live in unincorporated areas, such as portions of Newbury Park, that normally are under the jurisdiction of county government, the city manager said.

Johnston said he is conducting his own analysis of the city’s claims, which he will present to the supervisors. In the meantime, he will continue to caution against spending increases so that the county can rebuild its reserves, Johnston said.

Reserves five years ago were less than 1% of the general fund and now are about 7%, he said. The goal of the Board of Supervisors is to have a creditworthy 15% of the general fund in reserves, Johnston said.

“Things are getting better,” he said. “But we’re not there yet.”