State Asked to Return Local Taxes

Emboldened by emerging support from state leaders, officials from throughout Ventura County gathered Thursday and demanded the return of millions of dollars in property tax money shifted to the state early in the decade.

The loss has resulted in drastic cuts to such local services as libraries, parks, juvenile detention facilities and deteriorating county-maintained roads, officials said.

“We’re in your face, state,” county Supervisor Kathy Long said.

She was flanked by Supervisors Judy Mikels and Susan Lacey, mayors from several cities, and representatives from nonprofit groups and special districts.

“Ventura County is not going to take this anymore,” Long said at a Government Center news conference in Ventura.

In 1992, as a result of a recession, Sacramento lawmakers began siphoning money from local governments to the state education budget.

Over seven years, county government coffers have lost $351 million, officials said. Including funds from cities and special districts, the total is more than $452 million, they said.

Santa Paula Mayor James Garfield said the reduction in funds has been devastating to his city.

“Last year the state took $500,000 from our budget,” he said. “That means there will be no street repairs, no raises for our city employees and no new police officers, which we badly need.”

Mikels said she is encouraged by a bill coauthored by Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), which passed the Assembly 66-0 Wednesday. It would return $200 million in property taxes to local governments. A pending Senate bill would return $235 million.

“There are no guarantees on these bills; the governor has the final say,” Mikels said. “And by the way, Governor, this is a wake-up call. . . . State government is no longer in a fiscal crisis. Local governments need our local money back.”