Santa Clarita Mayor Bob Kellar released the following letter to the public Thursday. The protest form can be downloaded [here].

I am writing at the request of the entire Santa Clarita City Council regarding a time-sensitive issue of importance to our community.  The City Council is concerned about the Los Angeles County Flood Control District’s proposed fee, and how it will impact Santa Clarita residents, businesses and public agencies.

The Los Angeles County Flood Control District is proposing the Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure.  This proposed measure would establish an annual fee imposed upon most property owners within Los Angeles County for the purpose of reducing pollution from stormwater and urban runoff.

The proposed fee is designed to provide dedicated funding for local and regional projects and programs to help keep pollution out of stormwater and runoff, and use stormwater and runoff to recharge groundwater supplies.  You are encouraged to learn more about this fee by visiting the following website: www.LACountyCleanWater.org, or you may call the information hotline at 800-218-0018 (8am-5pm, M-Th).

At our regular meeting of Tuesday, January 8, 2013, the Santa Clarita City Council unanimously voted to protest the fee on all parcels owned by the City of Santa Clarita.  In the case of the City of Santa Clarita, the annual fee is anticipated to be approximately $461,000.  You may wish to learn more about the methodology used to determine the fee amount to evaluate the proposed impact on properties owned by you and your organization.

The City Council’s concerns included the lack of specific projects being identified, concern over property owner noticing of the proposed fee, no sunset date on collection of the fee, and  that school districts and other tax-payer funded public agencies will be charged the fee.  Furthermore, the City of Santa Clarita already collects a similar stormwater pollution prevention fee and this new fee will essentially be double taxation for property owners within the City of Santa Clarita.

The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, located at 500 W. Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles.  Councilmember Marsha McLean and I will be delivering the City of Santa Clarita’s protest to the fee for properties owned by the City of Santa Clarita.

After determining the impact of the proposed fee on properties owned by you or your organization, you may also wish to participate in the public hearing on Tuesday.  The Board of Supervisors is expected to take action on any “next steps” for the proposed fee on Tuesday.  I strongly encourage you to learn more about the potential impact of this fee proposal and express your thoughts to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Please feel free to distribute this information to others to ensure that members of our community are fully informed about this proposal and have an opportunity, if they so choose, to weigh in with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 15, 2013.

Sincerely,

Bob Kellar

Mayor, City of Santa Clarita