Community is not even close to the necessary two-thirds support required, with less than half surveyed agreeing to Parks and Recreation development, which will probably be shelved for at least two years.
By Kim Zanti /Special to The Malibu Times
According to a recent survey, Malibu voters and property owners would not support either a sales tax increase or a bond measure to pay for various parks and recreation services, facilities or programs.
The survey was mailed in the spring to Malibu voters and property owners, and the results were presented to the Parks Bond Advisory Committee on Thursday at Malibu City Hall.
Developed and distributed by Shilts Consultants, Inc. of Fairfield, Calif., the main objective of the survey was to determine community support for alternative funding methods for a community park with sports fields and playground equipment. Earlier attempts to fund these capital improvements using a ballot bond measure failed.
Committee Chairman Dermot Stoker responded to the survey results with surprise. He thought that support would be “a slam dunk” as the improvements to parks and recreation facilities offered “so many benefits that the money would be used for,” he said.
In a later phone conversation, he said, “I was pleased with how [the survey] was done, but disappointed in the results.”
Stoker, a father of three, also said that Malibu doesn’t have enough facilities to accommodate youth participation in team sports. As an example, he said, “1,000 children registered with the AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) this year … but Malibu doesn’t own one field, not a blade of grass.”
Initial cost estimates for improvements ranged between $15 million and $18 million. The two alternative methods presented in the survey were to increase sales tax by half a cent or form two benefit assessment districts (geographical areas that receive benefits from the proposed capital improvements). An increased sales tax would impact all residents and visitors equally. The bond measure would impact resident property owners based on these assessment districts, or zones of benefit.
The consultant report identified two zones of benefit and states that “Zone A was estimated to be the area to receive significant capital improvements and was defined as generally the area between Puerco Canyon Road and Cross Creek Road; and the area between De Butts Terrace and Busch Drive. Zone B is the remainder of the City of Malibu.”
Within these zones, an assessment per property would be collected based on the relative benefit received by each property. For individual homeowners in Malibu, that assessment could have been as high as $383.66 per year in Zone A ($18 million bond option) or as low as $159.86 in Zone B ($15 million bond option).
Of the surveys mailed, 3,879 went to property owners including registered voters and non-voters; and 6,438 were mailed to registered voters (of which 1,938 were also identified as property owners).
Respondents answered a ballot question relating to the funding method and then ranked their community parks and recreation priorities from a list of 10 options. Survey results indicated that only 44.3 percent of respondents would support the .5 percent sales tax increase; 42 percent of respondents would support the $15 million bond measure; and 36.5 percent would support the $18 million bond measure. The top three overall priorities for the community were: Protect open space in Malibu (57.3 percent); improve trails for walking, hiking and biking (49.2 percent); and create a community park (47.2 percent). Percentages represent a combined total of “strongly support” and “somewhat support” responses.
On all options, the percentages of overall support were significantly lower than 62 percent, which is the level of support the consultants would recommend that the Advisory Committee proceed with a City Council recommendation to develop either alternative funding method.
A quorum was not present at the Parks Bond Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday. (Five of 10 committee members were present; a quorum requires six.) Without the quorum, the committee’s unofficial recommendation to City Council will be to wait two to four years before reintroducing either a bond measure or a sales tax increase specific to parks and recreation.