Officials Lobby for Tax Refund for City

Agoura Hills City Councilmen Ed Corridori and Dan Kuperberg joined a hundred other city representatives from around the state in Sacramento last week to lobby for changes in the state budget that would return the property taxes the state took in lean times.

The councilmen, armed with budgetary data dating back to 1991, told “anyone who’d listen” Monday that property taxes taken by the state to balance its own budget should be returned to the small municipalities who have struggled to recover from the loss.

“We were trying to help legislators in Sacramento appreciate exactly how it affected Agoura Hills,” Kuperberg said.

According to city officials, Agoura Hills lost $417,000 in property taxes annually, for a cumulative loss of $2.6 million since 1991.

The state appropriated billions annually in local revenues statewide when it faced a multibillion-dollar budget deficit caused by the recession.

“The important thing was we spoke to people, told them our concerns and gave them examples of how our budget was affected,” Kuperberg said.

“That’s why the city had to put in the Utility Users Tax years ago. If we had this money we would be able to build a library, pave roads. Because of [the state’s actions] we haven’t been able to do these things.”

The councilmen also were there to lobby for $500,000 in state funding for the cooperative Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center, bolstered by support from Speaker Pro Tem Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica).

“I think we did get our point across,” Kuperberg said. “This is a great, regional project that will benefit youth and seniors.

“But we are competing with all the other projects in California,” he added. “All we can do is try to make sure they get the message, and they have to prioritize.”