HUNTINGTON BEACH : Council OKs Yearly Review of Taxes

Skeptics say that once a tax is voted, it never comes off the books.

But in response to some residents’ criticism about new fees and increased taxes, the City Council has passed a resolution requiring an annual review of all the new levies imposed this year. The council said it would discontinue fees or taxes that the review concludes are no longer needed.

Opposition to new taxes in the city reached a fever pitch last month when the council voted to add a 5% fee to cable television bills in the city. Critics charged that the fee was only needed temporarily but that it would be continued indefinitely.

In response, the City Council on June 17 said a yearly analysis of new taxes would be beneficial. The council directed City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga to pave the way for such an annual tax study.

Last week Uberuaga presented a memo to the council that outlined the reasons for the annual tax review.

“The current economic recession has caused a decline in some city general fund revenues,” Uberuaga’s memo said. “Hopefully, the decline will be temporary. When full recovery from the recession occurs, an increase in general fund revenues is anticipated.

“The purpose of the annual review . . . is to require a review of the need for these new revenues in fiscal year 1992-93 and each year thereafter. . . . If the analysis documents that the need for some or all of the new revenue is temporary, then a tax decrease or fee reduction can be implemented.”

The council, in unanimously voting for the tax analysis, specifically mentioned the fee on cable TV as an item that must be analyzed each year.