City, county disagree on who should be paying the bills
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com
  A showdown is brewing over a disagreement between the Thousand Oaks City Council and the county of Ventura over whose responsibility it is to pay the bills for certain programs.

Saying it is tired of paying for services that it feels should be covered by Ventura County, the city council agreed last week to send a letter to the County Board of Supervisors requesting reimbursement for county services currently subsidized by Thousand Oaks. The vote was 4-0 with Councilmember Tom Glancy absent.

Councilmember Andy Fox went so far as to issue an ultimatum.

"If the county ignores this and goes ahead with its budget, I fully intend to come back here and take a hard look at these programs and stop paying the bills," Fox said.

If there's something Fox doesn't want to pay for, then he shouldn't, responded county Chief Executive Officer Johnny Johnston. He called the city's request”bizarre" and questioned why City Manager Scott Mitnick had never brought up the issue at monthly city manager meetings.

"Why would the county reimburse the city for the choices it made? If (Fox) ordered it, he should pay for it," Johnston said.

According to a city staff report, the programs in question include crossing guards, senior nutrition, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) for public schools, Dial-a-Ride services to unincorporated areas of the county, the East County Jail and library services for county residents.

Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks, whose district includes T.O., says this is a case of misinformation and misunderstanding. Many of the programs the city is questioning have contracts between the city and county that are decades old, including sharing of the cost of the jail.

"I welcome a review so that, as they learn more, some of those concerns will go away," Parks said. "They have already because the amount they originally asked for has changed."

The city initially sought a reimbursement of $750,000 for fiscal year 2005-06 and $600,000 annually for 11 programs, but reduced the former amount to $635,000 and $550,000 annually.

"If they don't feel they're getting their fair shake, then it should be looked into," Parks said. "It's important for the city to have a clear understanding of the relationship between the city and the county."

Johnston believes the timing could be political.

Most of the council, including Fox, Jacqui Irwin, Mayor Dennis Gillette and Tom Glancy, has endorsed Joe Gibson, who's running against Parks in the June 6 election.

"I've been in the business for 40 years and have never known a city staff to ever do a report like that," Johnston said. "Considering there's an election on June 6, there must be some other motive for doing this kind of thing."

The office space Parks rents in the T.O. Civic Arts Plaza is on the city's list of complaints. Parks says her rent amount was approved by the council.

"I pay the same rent as Supervisor Schillo did," said Parks of her predecessor, Frank Schillo.

In response to the city's concern over paying for library services for county residents, Parks said that since 1990 the county had paid the city more than $1.6 million in property taxes apportioned for library service from unincorporated areas of Conejo Valley. Those payments were made consistently despite financial problems facing the libraries that resulted in library staff layoffs and fewer operating hours.

"In other words, whatever library system property tax revenue is generated in the unincorporated areas of Thousand Oaks is returned to Thousand Oaks," according to a May 11 letter to Parks from Alan Landville, the county's interim library director.

Community prosecution services are also on the city's list for reimbursement, but Parks says that was a program the county paid for through a grant. When the money ran out, the city decided to fund it. Parks said the county could never have afforded a special prosecutor for each city.

"It's a bit of a stretch to ask for funding for something the county never paid for to begin with," Parks said.

During the council meeting, Fox said his motivation for seek

ng reimbursement was to provide

he city with more services, including an additional police beat.

"It's not a question of the value of any program," Mitnick said. "The question is, how do you pay

or it?"

According to the city staff report, the city is spending about $750,000 in fiscal year 2005-06

o cover 11 county services.

"The city has stepped up and absorbed these things," Gillette said. "I would anticipate that the

raditionally strong relationship between the city and the county of Ventura will continue."

With a $218-million portfolio as of Dec. 31, 2005, and about $14 million in reserves, T.O. has a healthy investment base to help cover its budget of about $178 million. Interest earnings on all

nvested funds for fiscal year 2005 was nearly $5 million. The average return on funds invested was 2.5 percent. The city's port

olio includes CDs, federal agency and treasury coupon se

curities, and commercial paper. Two bond issues funded in November refinanced prior bonds at a lower rate, increasing the city's portfolio by about $11 million for new capital projects and by about $10.8 million for new affordablehousing projects.

After years of struggling, the county is experiencing renewed financial strength thanks to increased property tax revenues in the range of millions of dollars, something the city hopes to capitalize on.

"The county is openly discussing increasing its general fund reserves, adding new services . . . new programs . . . and over two dozen new positions," according to the city staff report. "Before pursuing any of these options, city staff feels that the county needs to first look at restoring previous program and service funding."

But Johnston says the county has suffered through severe financial difficulties for five years, cutting 500 positions and laying off 125 people.

"Now we finally are getting out of the hole and they're asking us for money," Johnston said.