Today is the deadline for property owners to turn in ballots for the city’s open-space measure, a second effort to collect a $25-a-year assessment to buy tracts of open space in hopes of preserving wilderness and slowing development.
Many community leaders and organizations endorse the plan but an earlier measure failed because large landowners opposed it reports Judy O’Rourke of the Daily News.
“Anybody that’s in the business doesn’t want any more taxes,” said Mike Bjorkman, a local Re/Max real estate agent. “They’re also concerned they’ll have less land to buy themselves.”
The mail-in ballot sent out about 45 days ago asks landowners whether they should be taxed at least $25 annually for 30 years to help buy and preserve developable land. The flat rate of $25 per single-family home could be used to borrow $23.4 million immediately, city Treasurer Darren Hernandez has said. A $1-a-year increase would support a $34.6 million bond issue.
By Monday, at least 16,210 of the roughly 51,200 ballots issued had been signed and returned to the city. The votes are weighted, which means property owners get one vote for each parcel they own, and some might have stuffed more than one ballot in an envelope.
Read it here: http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_6336277