Thorny questions remain for Newport Coast

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- Confusion about how to distribute $18 million to

Newport Coast residents could foreshadow problems with the county in

tracking up to $20 million that may be unaccounted for.

City staff got conflicting answers from county officials about ways to

pay back $18 million owed to Newport Coast residents from an annexation

agreement, administrative services Deputy Director Dick Kurth told

members of the Newport Coast Advisory Committee on Tuesday.

Some county representatives said it was not possible to credit

residents’ tax bills. Others contradicted this, Kurth said, who along

with other city staff members met with officials from the county

executive office in late January.

The money comes from the Irvine Ranch Water District, which is paying

the city a total of $25 million over six years as part of an agreement to

supply water to the recently annexed area. Newport Beach has pledged to

return that money to coast residents: $18 million will repay a portion of

their tax bills, the other $7 million could be used to build a community

center in the coast area.

The city will distribute $1.2 million a year over 15 years to the

residents to help repay assessments that paid for roads and other

infrastructure. The amount will vary from homeowner to homeowner, but it

is expected to average about $720 the first year.

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said that if the county is unable to

work out the logistics of putting a credit on the residents’ assessment

tax bill, it’s possible that the city could opt to distribute checks

directly to the residents.

The advisory group is set to create a subcommittee to work through

this issue along with an even stickier question of what happened to other

assessment district money. Some residents worry that, of the $181 million

in bonds issued in the 1980s and ‘90s to help build the area, up to $20

million may be unaccounted for.

They want to know why they were reimbursed only $3.5 million for a

portion of Newport Coast Drive they paid about $13.3 million to build

before it was taken by the Transportation Corridor Agency to be made into

a toll road.

City and county officials have been quick to say that it’s unlikely

any money is missing. But they agree that residents have a right to see

exactly where their money went -- a request that county officials have

been slow to prioritize.

Kiff is heading up an inquiry into the matter. The city will hire an

investigator to help determine, which documents will best answer these

questions. Then officials will request the documents from the county to

offer coast residents an exact accounting of their money.

“There are a lot of questions that need to be answered,” Kiff said.