Honig Urges Rule by Majority on Property Fees : Schools: Only two of nine O.C. districts have stuck with plans to assess the annual levy.

State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said Wednesday that he supports assessing fees against property owners to maintain school recreational facilities, but that the decision should be left up to voters rather than school district trustees.

Speaking publicly for the first time on the controversial maintenance assessment fees, Honig took a middle-ground stance, agreeing both with school trustees who say the fees are needed for financially strapped school districts to properly maintain school grounds, and with anti-tax groups who say Proposition 13 mandates voter approval.

But Honig, arguing that the two-thirds vote required by Proposition 13 is too difficult for school districts to obtain, said voter approval should be based on a simple majority.

“Schools are providing recreational facilities to all people,” Honig said in an interview. “It’s fairer if voters got a chance to approve it with a simple majority.”

Honig’s comments came amid a continuing statewide debate on whether school district trustees have the right to levy fees on property owners for the upkeep of publicly used recreational facilities such as tennis courts, baseball diamonds and basketball courts.

In Orange County, where at one point nine school districts were considering assessment fees, only two school districts--Orange Unified and Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified--have stuck by their decision to charge the fees. The Los Angeles-based Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., an anti-tax group that has been at the forefront of the assessment battle, has filed suit seeking to block the fee in Orange Unified, and the $1.6 million expected to be collected from the $30 annual levy will be impounded by the county until the legal challenges are completed.

Fear of costly lawsuits and objections from constituents have dissuaded other districts in the county that have considered the fees.

On Tuesday, the West Orange County Schools Financing Authority, representing four school districts in the Huntington Beach area, rescinded their earlier unanimous vote to charge property owners a $50 annual fee that would have raised $4.3 million for school repairs. Embattled trustees from the Huntington Beach Union High, Huntington Beach City, Ocean View and Westminster school districts had come under fire from a realtors board and a citizens group that threatened a recall drive.

Anti-tax crusaders and realtors groups welcomed Honig’s remark that the voters should have the final say on the fees, but continued to argue that any levies against property owners fall under Proposition 13 and are therefore subject to approval by two-thirds of the electorate.

“At least he’s moving in the right direction by saying such fees should go to the vote of the people,” said Kris Vosburgh , executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. “But he’s wrong with simple majority. It’s important to note that many voters do not own property and therefore would not be under any obligation to pay a tax or a fee. Property owners would be burdened more.”

State Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange), who is sponsoring a bill that would require two-thirds margin of approval for assessment fees, said Honig’s stance could be a viable compromise between tax opponents and school districts.

“I prefer a two-thirds vote for the people because it’s in the spirit of Prop. 13,” Lewis said. “But I’m a realist. My strong suspicion is that two-thirds majority would not pass the Legislature.”