Calabasas Cityhood Backers Dealt Another Major Setback

A Calabasas incorporation campaign received a second major blow Thursday when its supporters failed in an attempt to eliminate a projected city budget deficit.

Los Angeles County officials last week cited the deficit in recommending against cityhood.

Incorporation backers were unable to persuade the officials to adjust tax revenue and expenditure estimates that predict Calabasas would spend nearly $3 million more than it would take in during its first year as a city.

They were also told that it is too late to scale back the boundaries of their proposed 26-square-mile city to cut costs before a crucial May 13 hearing on the cityhood application.

The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission is scheduled to decide that day whether the 2-year-old cityhood proposal should be submitted to county supervisors this summer and to Calabasas voters in November.

Committee members met Thursday with commission executive officer Ruth Benell in hopes of persuading her to either change the budget estimates or redraw the city boundaries.

But Benell said she stands by her calculations, which show that first-year city tax revenues would total $2.8 million and city services would cost $5.7 million.

And she said it would take two months--not two weeks--to prepare a new fiscal report based on a redrawn city map either half or one-third the size of the current Calabasas proposal.

“All we can do now is bring up our complaints before the commission on the 13th,” cityhood campaign chairman Robert Hill said after the meeting. “We’re a little frustrated that we can’t get details on how she reached some of her projections.”

Cityhood backers had hoped to prove that major mistakes exist in Benell’s incorporation feasibility study, which was issued last week. In it, she recommended that the commission deny the cityhood request on May 13.

Committee leaders claimed Wednesday to have found errors that showed Benell’s study was miles off base--both fiscally and physically.

The report stated that the proposed city boundary would “extend northerly of the Ventura Freeway to the Kern County line in one area.” In actuality, the proposed city limit would stretch to the Ventura County line, committee members said.

$1.1 Million Discrepancy

They charged that Benell’s study counted some expenses twice and seriously overestimated other costs. They said they had spotted discrepancies totaling $1.1 million and predicted more would be found.

“The whole thing is riddled with errors,” said Marvin Lopata, treasurer of the committee.

Hill said at least $500,000 in revenues apparently were not counted and about $600,000 in erroneous expenditures were.

During their meeting with Benell, cityhood supporters challenged her prediction that Calabasas city officials would spend $38,000 to organize a City Council, plus $400,000 more on such things as staff salaries, building rental and maintenance.

They also questioned Benell on her estimates for the three most costly services that the new city would contract for with the county: police and fire protection and public works services.

The city would pay an estimated $1.8 million to the county Sheriff’s Department and $1.6 million to the county Fire Department. Public works services, such as street maintenance and traffic-signal operations, would cost $1.3 million, according to Benell’s estimate.

Basis for Estimates

Benell said there is nothing to keep the city from spending that much to set itself up, however. And she defended the services’ costs as being based on past county expenditures in Calabasas.

After the meeting, Benell said it seems doubtful that Calabasas cityhood will qualify as a ballot issue this year.

“In my opinion, it doesn’t look possible,” she said. “If they want a modification of boundaries, it would be too late to go to the Board of Supervisors and meet the Aug. 8 ballot deadline.”

If commissioners vote against the application May 13, cityhood backers will be legally required to wait two years before trying again, she said.