Santa Monica Wins Round in Fee Dispute With Landlords
A Superior Court judge has refused to order Santa Monica to accept a petition that landlords circulated calling for a referendum on the Rent Control Board’s decision to increase its registration fees.
Judge David M. Rothman of the Santa Monica court also denied a request to postpone the Aug. 1 deadline for payment of the $120-per-year fee on each unit. Landlords who do not pay on time cannot pass the fee on to tenants.
The city contends that the board’s decision to increase the registration fee, previously $84, is an administrative matter and not subject to referendum. Last week, City Atty. Robert Myers deemed the petition inappropriate and ordered the city clerk not to file it.
Geoffrey Strand, a spokesman for ACTION (A Commitment to Insure Owners’ Needs), the group backing the petition, called the court ruling outrageous.
Strand said if the rent board is an administrative body, the fee is actually a tax and would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of voters.
Board attorney Joel Martin Levy said that since the fee is used exclusively to pay for the board’s operating expenses, it is not a tax.
A hearing on the issue has been set for Sept. 11.
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