Rancho P.V. Sets April 14 Election on Property Tax Hike

Rancho Palos Verdes voters will decide April 14 whether to temporarily increase their property taxes to help the city cope with its $2.4-million budget deficit.

Even after making deep cuts in spending and laying off nearly a third of its 50 employees, the city officials say they cannot make up for the deficit in the $7-million budget for fiscal 1992-93 without a new source of revenue.

So, the City Council last week approved a ballot measure that would impose a graduated parcel tax starting at $50 a year for undeveloped land. Owners of apartment buildings would pay $75 a year, and single-family residential and commercial property would pay $200 annually.

The parcel tax, which would need to be approved by a majority of voters, would remain in effect until June, 1996.

Officials estimate the tax would raise $3 million a year, enough to cover the deficit and restore some of the services that have been eliminated.

If voters reject a tax increase, City Manager Paul Bussey predicted, the city’s badly run-down streets, curbs, gutters and storm drains would go unrepaired, environmental protection services would be reduced or eliminated, and park maintenance and recreation programs would be cut dramatically.

Without the new tax revenue, “we will survive at some level, but we won’t be providing much in the way of service,” Bussey said.