Camarillo Ranks 1st in Per Capita Property Tax : Assessments: A countywide study was prompted by interest in the idea of shifting revenues away from the cities of origin.

By HUGO MARTIN

March 16, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Residents of Camarillo, Ojai and Thousand Oaks paid the highest amount of property taxes last year in Ventura County per capita, mostly through special districts, according to a study released Friday.

Camarillo residents paid $134 per capita in property taxes through special districts, such as fire and recreation districts, according to a study that compares tax revenues for fiscal 1989-90 from the county’s 10 cities.

Ojai residents paid $117, while Thousand Oaks residents paid $114, according to the study, which divides total property tax revenues by the population of each city.

The study by the Local Agency Formation Commission provided the latest figures on revenues generated through property taxes, sales taxes and hotel taxes in each city. It was based on figures from 1989-90.

Amounts for the other cities in the county are: Simi Valley, $113 per capita; Ventura $104; Moorpark, $90; Oxnard, $80; Santa Paula, $72; Port Hueneme, $70, and Fillmore, $49.

The report also details the services provided by each of the 10 cities. For example, fire, recreation and library services in Camarillo are paid for and run not by the city, but by property taxes collected by special districts. In contrast, the city of Oxnard runs and pays for all services.

The report draws no conclusions on why the amounts varied so widely among cities.

The study also compares the sales taxes generated in each city.

The city of Ventura led all the cities in sales tax revenues, collecting $14.3 million, or $155 for every resident, according to the study.

Thousand Oaks came in second, collecting $11.9 million, or $111 per capita, while Oxnard received $11.6 million, or $90 per person, according to the study. The city of Ojai ranked above Oxnard per capita, at $94 per resident, the report said. Ojai collected $751,350 in sales tax revenues.

The sales tax figures for the other cities were: Camarillo, $70 per capita; Simi Valley, $67; Santa Paula, $51; Fillmore, $43; Moorpark, $34, and Port Hueneme, $31.

Robert Braitman, executive director of LAFCO, said the study was drafted at the request of members of the 1989-90 grand jury.

Several grand jury members were interested in the issue of shifting the local shares of sales taxes away from the cities that generate the taxes to a system of distributing the money on a “per capita basis,” he said.

“It shows that there is some validity to the concept that sales taxes, for example, should be distributed to somewhere other than the point of sale,” Braitman said.

Longtime Thousand Oaks Councilman Alex Fiore said he felt the study was unnecessary.

He said it is unfair to distribute taxes out of the communities where they are generated, especially if a community has to put up with traffic and pollution usually generated by revenue-producing enterprises such as shopping centers.

“I don’t see why the city of Thousand Oaks should be subsidizing any other community that doesn’t go through the pains of (building) regional complexes,” he said.

Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi agreed with Fiore, saying cities would lose the incentive to build shopping malls and business districts if the sales taxes were distributed evenly throughout the county.

Although Camarillo collected the greatest amount of property taxes on a per capita basis, it is considered a “no tax city” because the city collected no property taxes in 1978, when Proposition 13 was adopted. All property taxes are collected through special districts, such as fire and recreation services districts. The other “no tax cities” are Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

Moorpark is considered a “low tax city” because it collected a minimal amount of property tax in 1978.

Longtime Port Hueneme Councilman and LAFCO member Dorill Wright said the report provided some useful information.

The study points out that such services as fire protection and park maintenance in cities like Thousand Oaks and Camarillo are paid for by special assessments and not by the cities themselves.

He said such cities have more flexibility with their budgets because they are not “full-service” cities.

“This study is not a matter of which city looks good or bad,” he said. “It’s a matter of who has funds available to provide for the delivery of services.”

Thousand Oaks City Manager Grant R. Brimhall said the reason residents in Camarillo and Thousand Oaks pay such high property taxes through special districts has to do with the high property assessments made by the county assessor’s office.

Brimhall blasted the study for failing to point out that cities like Thousand Oaks must pay the county to provide such services as police and fire protection.

“I think the report will be a very divisive thing because it does not reflect all of the facts,” he said. “The omissions are so glaring and so unfortunate.”