Subway Tax Critics Reject Bradley Plan : Metro Rail: They say the assessment is unfair even if payment is spread over a longer period, as the mayor proposes.

By DEAN MURPHY

March 3, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Organizers of a drive to kill a proposed tax on landowners near three planned Metro Rail subway stations in Mid-Wilshire said Friday they have not dropped their opposition even though Mayor Tom Bradley announced Thursday that a compromise had been reached.

“There was no agreement at all,” said Paul Jacobs, a spokesman for COMET, the Committee Opposed to Metro Rail Taxation. “I wonder if the mayor understands that this thing is far from being in the bag.”

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani acknowledged Friday that COMET remains opposed to the tax, but he said Bradley’s announcement was based on discussions with leaders of the Wilshire Stakeholders Group, a separate community group that includes Mid-Wilshire property owners.

Fabiani said the Stakeholders group agreed to support the mayor’s compromise early this week, and that he expects many of its members to begin withdrawing petitions that ask the Southern California Rapid Transit District to hold a vote on the tax.

“When the proposal becomes more widely known, we fully expect that enough petitions will be withdrawn so that there will be no election,” Fabiani said.

Bradley and RTD officials say it is crucial to fend off challenges to the assessment, which they say is needed to pay for $75 million in construction bonds for Metro Rail’s second phase. RTD officials have said the Metro Rail project would be delayed or scaled back if the tax is defeated.

Wayne Ratkovich, chairman of the Stakeholders Group, said the organization’s executive committee supports the mayor’s compromise, but said he could not predict how the membership will react. “It is much too soon to make any forecasts,” he said.

Under state law, the RTD must call an election if landowners holding a total of 25% of the assessed value of the property in a proposed tax district request a vote. Members of COMET said they submitted enough signatures to the RTD last month to force a vote in the Mid-Wilshire district, although RTD officials said Friday they had not verified the signatures.

Bradley announced in a press release Thursday that he had negotiated a deal that would cut annual tax rates almost in half for property owners located near 11 proposed Metro Rail stations in Mid-Wilshire, Hollywood, North Hollywood, Universal City and along Vermont Avenue. The stations are part of a proposed 13.3-mile extension of the subway from MacArthur Park to North Hollywood.

Under Bradley’s proposal, property owners would be given 29 years to pay the assessment, compared to 19 years under the current plan. The RTD Board of Directors is expected to approve Bradley’s compromise at its meeting next week.

Critics complain that the mayor’s proposal will save property owners only a small amount of money because the lower annual payments will be offset by a longer payment schedule. They also say Bradley has ignored their biggest complaint.

“The issue from the start has been fairness,” said Andrew Miliotis, head of COMET. “Why is the whole $75 million being assessed against a select few properties near the stations? Everyone stands to gain from Metro Rail, not just these property owners.”

Thomas De Angelo, general manager of the Sheraton-Town House on Wilshire Boulevard, said opponents of the tax will settle for nothing less than an election on the assessment.

“All they are trying to do is create a split among us,” De Angelo said. “There is no split. Let them put it up for a vote.”