THE TIMES POLL : O.C. Residents Back New Taxes--but Just for Schools : Times poll: Survey finds mixed support for funding emergency services. Levies to pay investors are opposed.

By DAVID REYES

Jan. 28, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

COSTA MESA — Orange County residents, who long have held an antipathy toward new taxes, favor raising them to help public schools survive the county’s financial crisis and are evenly split on new taxes for police and fire protection, according to a Times Orange County poll.

But although officials are scrambling to find ways to restore the financial markets’ faith in Orange County, residents say they are unwilling to pay more taxes to meet obligations to the county’s bondholders.

Half of those polled favored selling John Wayne Airport to raise money for the county, although officials cite many obstacles to privatizing the airport. Indeed, there was solid support for privatizing government services, with those polled saying it would save the county money.

Most residents said they believe a combination of tax increases, higher user fees and spending cuts will be necessary to help restore the county’s financial health in the wake of $1.69 billion in investment losses that drove Orange County to file for bankruptcy.

“This shows that even though Orange County residents historically are steadfastly opposed to taxes, when they can see that the money will be used for a good cause, they’re willing to change their position,” said Cheryl Katz, co-director of the poll, which was conducted by Mark Baldassare & Associates.

The telephone survey of 600 Orange County adult residents was conducted from Jan. 20 to 23 on weekend days and weekday nights, using a computer-generated random sample of listed and unlisted telephone numbers. The margin of error is plus or minus 4%.

Another Times Orange County poll conducted one week after the Dec. 6 bankruptcy filing found that 80% of those surveyed opposed raising taxes to help recapture the county’s lost funds, while only 17% were in favor. Over time, Katz said, it appears that residents have become more willing to accept tax increases as part of the county’s recovery--especially if they are earmarked for specific programs that they support.

Still, poll respondents expressed reluctance to give the County Board of Supervisors carte blanche to impose any tax hikes.

“You just dread this,” said Grace Azvedo, 62, of Tustin. “Maybe we can agree on a new temporary tax. But what assurances do I have that it would be temporary? Or, for that matter, used correctly?”

At least three out of four of those surveyed view the crisis as an opportunity to permanently trim government, with most wanting the county’s work force and budget cut 10% to 25%. Only 8% of respondents want no permanent reductions; on the other hand, only 3% said they would like to abolish county government.

Generally, those questioned said they have more compassion for schools districts, which contend that they were mandated by state law to invest their funds in the county’s investment pool.

Of those interviewed, 53% said they favored a tax increase to benefit schools, while 45% were opposed. More Democrats, 64%, than Republicans, 46%, favored an increase. Of residents with children, 59% favored a tax increase.

“You have to raise the taxes to make some sort of revenue somewhere,” said Tyler Nelson, 22, of Anaheim, a full-time college student who works part-time as a mechanic. “You can’t pull money out of the air on this. In some ways, it’s not that I favor raising taxes, it’s the way it is. It’s like the (savings and loan) crisis. If someone screws up, you’ve got to pay.”

Opinions were strong among the 45% who opposed any new taxes for schools.

“What kind of taxes are we talking about here?” asked Julie Wilson, 39, a former real estate businesswoman and now a full-time mother in Newport Beach. “I’m adamantly opposed to raising taxes. Are we talking about higher property assessments? Higher gasoline taxes? We need to talk about this openly.”

Investment bankers hired by Orange County to structure a financial recovery plan have said the county needs to consider raising sales and consumption taxes, although the five supervisors say they would oppose any tax increase.

On fire and police services, half of the residents surveyed opposed raising taxes, while 48% favored tax increases.

But more than three-fourths were opposed to the idea of raising taxes so investors who bought Orange County bonds could be paid back in full.

Some of those interviewed said they once were cheerleaders for investing in Orange County real estate but are now becoming ambivalent.

The financial crisis has soured the way people view owning a home in what has long been considered one of America’s most desirable places to live. Poll results showed that the number of people feeling positive about buying a home in the county had dropped by 8 percentage points since August, when UC Irvine’s Orange County Annual Survey was conducted.

Renters took an even dimmer view than homeowners. The number of renters who said they felt that owning a home in Orange County was an excellent or good investment fell by 12 percentage points since the August survey.

In interviews, many poll respondents expressed a feeling of helplessness about coping with a major financial crisis with which they had little or no involvement. They still enjoy living in Orange County, emphasizing in their comments the county’s picturesque beaches and nice weather. But anger and angst were common reactions to the financial debacle.

“I love California and I love Orange County,” said Kathreen Jaramillo, who lost her job as a campus supervisor for the Capistrano Unified School District as a result of the fiscal woes. “If I could afford it, I would buy (a house),” the 46-year-old San Clemente resident said. “But people like me need to start looking at the way the government is run. What were the supervisors thinking of? This shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

One positive item noted by many respondents is that the local economy is recovering in spite of the county’s bankruptcy. One out of three people say the economy is in excellent or good condition, four in 10 describe it as fair and two in 10 say it is poor, the poll showed.