More storm water for district

The Army Corps of Engineers is letting Surf City’s main water

supplier capture an additional 1.6 billion gallons of storm water

this winter, enough to serve almost 10,000 Orange County families.

This will provide a boost to a depleted groundwater supply that’s

hurting from increased use and four years of drought.

The Orange County Water District will now be able to capture

13,500 acre-feet of water behind the Prado Dam instead of the

previous 8,600 feet, increasing storage capacity in the area by 50%.

The district will store the water until March 1 and then release

it into its groundwater basin.

“This will give us the opportunity to capture more water than our

normal pool is allowed and hold onto it behind the dam until we need

it,” said Jenny Wedge, spokeswoman for the Orange County Water

District.

The corps is allowing the district to store the water for free.

The water, which will eventually percolate into the underground

basin, will benefit all of the district’s suppliers, Wedge said.

“If we get a good rainy season, then it will definitely benefit

us,” Wedge said.

The agreement is only in effect until March, but district

officials are hoping to see it extended into the future.

The Orange County Water District provides drinking water to 2.3

million residents in 21 cities in north and central Orange County,

including Huntington Beach.

Free buses for New Year’s Eve night owls

The Orange County Transportation Authority will provide free bus

service for New Year’s Eve revelers to curb drunk driving.

Service will be free on all routes from 6 p.m. Dec. 31 to 4 a.m.

Jan. 1.

“Last year was the first year that we did it as a test to see if

there was any interest, and a lot of people took advantage of it,”

said Michael Litschi, Orange County Transportation Authority

spokesman. “It’s a way to thank our customers for a successful year

in service.”

The Orange County Transportation Authority has an annual ridership

of 65 million and operates 600 buses on 76 routes throughout Orange

County.

For bus schedule information or more information about the free

New Year’s Eve service, call (714) 636-RIDE or log on to

https://www.octa.net.

Refuse station recycles Christmas trees

Environmentally conscious residents can recycle their Christmas

trees with Rainbow Disposal. Between Friday and Jan. 27, the refuse

company will collect trees left at the curb, next to trashcans or by

commercial bins.

Trees exceeding six feet must be cut down. The stand, nails and

all decorations, including tinsel and lights, must also be removed.

Trees with fake snow or leftover decorations can not be chipped for

mulch.

For more information, call Rainbow Disposal at (714) 847-3581.

Deadline for property tax refund claims nears

Surf City residents have less than two weeks to submit forms to

collect refunds for a property tax the city collected illegally

between 1997 and 2001.

The city may have to pay property owners as much as $27 million in

refunds for the tax, which was collected to pay for employee

pensions.

The last day to submit property tax refund claim forms is Jan. 4.

Only people who owned a house in Huntington Beach between 1997 and

2001 are eligible, and refunds will be for taxes collected in those

four years.

More than 38,000 claim forms have already been filed.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s Assn. sued the city over the tax in

December 1999, claiming that it violated Proposition 13, a landmark

initiative passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1978 that capped the

property tax cities could levy at 1% of its assessed value.

The superior court ruled in 2001 that the tax violated state law.

An appellate court later upheld the ruling. The City Council accepted

the appellate court ruling Aug. 4.

City officials are hoping to begin refunding the claims by late

summer, 2004.

The refund claim form is available at the City Clerk’s office in

City Hall. It can also be accessed on the city’s Web site at

https://www.surfcity-hb.org. For more information, call (714)

536-5227.

City Hall will be closed today and Friday and from Dec. 31 through

Jan. 2. During Christmas, New Year’s and on weekends, the forms can

be dropped in the drop box on the north side of City Hall by the

fountain. The claim form should be in an envelope marked “Attention

City Clerk.”