City schedules tax vote

The City Council settled on Dec. 13 as the date for a special

election to determine if Laguna will temporarily increase the sales

tax by a half cent to supplement the city’s general fund.

A special council meeting was held Sept. 16 to gauge public

opinion on the proposed special election and consider the ordinance

putting the tax increase on the ballot, which required the unanimous

vote of the council.

“The bottom line: Let the community decide,” Mayor Pro Tem Steven

Dicterow said.

Dicterow and Councilwoman Toni Iseman served on a council

subcommittee that researched the proposed tax increase and

recommended it.

If passed, the tax increase will raise $8.5 million for the city.

Under election rules mandated by the state, a two-thirds majority

vote would have been needed to pass the increase if the city

stipulated exactly how the money would be used. Only a bare majority

will be needed because the use of the funds was not restricted for a

specific purpose, although the council could and did state its

intentions.

The council plans to use the first $6 million to restore city

programs and projects that would otherwise be reduced, eliminated or

delayed to complete emergency repairs to Bluebird Canyon, devastated

by a landslide June 1. The remaining $2.5 million will establish an

emergency and disaster reserve fund.

The term of the tax increase is six years. If the target amount is

reached earlier, the tax can be eliminated by the council, but it

cannot be extended without another vote of the people.

“I don’t like raising taxes, but we are not voting to raise taxes,

we are voting to let the people decide,” Mayor Elizabeth

Pearson-Schneider said.

However, she strongly favors a larger “rainy-day” reserve fund

than the $500,000 which former Councilman Wayne Peterson pushed into

the city budget years ago. The tax increase would beef up the

emergency fund.

“I want to ensure that residents are not impacted this way by

future disasters and that no council has to face what we faced,”

Pearson-Schneider said.

Funds for immediately needed repairs to city infrastructure and

safety projects have been siphoned from other programs.

Estimated total costs for temporary and permanent repairs of the

slide area range from $12 million to $15 million.

City Manager Ken Frank said the city must protect its residents,

and that includes mitigation of obvious hazards and safe egress from

disaster-endangered neighborhoods.

“We don’t have the option of walking away from Flamingo,” Frank

said, “but we do have options for funding the repairs. We can sell

property, cut programs or raise taxes.

“Our recommendation is a combination. That way everybody shares

the pain.”

Public response at the meeting to the tax increase was generally

favorable, perhaps prompted by what Frank called the “Brownie

Rebellion” -- opposition to the sale of the two lots on which the

Girl Scout House had stood for 50 years.

“Does anyone even know what the [current] tax is?” asked resident

Bonnie Hano, who supported the temporary tax increase.

Hano said it was unlikely that people would balk at an additional

25 cents on a $50 restaurant check or purchase.

Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau President Karen Philippsen said as

many members as possible had been contacted, and restaurant

management connected with hotels said the tax increase was not a

major concern.

The three top generators of sales tax in Laguna are the Montage

Hotel and Spa, Surf & Sand and Las Brisas restaurant, Frank said.

A show of support from Las Brisas was enough to bring tears to the

eyes of the stoic city manager.

The Laguna Beach Taxpayers Association, to whom tax increases are

usually anathema, voted to stay neutral on the tax issue.

“We are opposed to waste and we are for efficient use of money

collected through taxes,” association Vice President Bobbi Cox said.

Chamber of Commerce board member Dennis Myers said the chamber

could not endorse the tax increase.

“This should be solved with a property tax,” Myers said.

Residents, not visitors, should bear the burden, Myers said,

perhaps through a citywide assessment district.

“I oppose the sales tax,” former chamber President and local

bookstore owner Tom Ahern said. “Customers can shop anywhere, and

this will have a negative effect on business. We should cut the cost

of government instead. It is fat. It is bloated.”

QUESTION

Do you support a sales tax increase to help the city pay for

disasters? Write us at P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA, 92652, e-mail

us at o7coastlinepilot@

latimes.com f7or fax us at 494-8979. Please give your name and

tell us your home address and phone number for verification purposes

only.