Now that our elections are over and a new city council is in place, two issues present themselves-the dispute with the Coastal Commission over the LCP and funding for ball fields. It appears that on the former, there is a relatively unanimous feeling among council members and the community. On the latter, contention looms.
I believe I speak for many Malibuites when I say that I’d rather we speak with one voice as a community regarding the LCP than allow ourselves to get bogged down with an intra-city fight over financing ball fields. I therefore implore members of the community and our elected leaders to consider the following points.
Raising money by any means prior to entering negotiations on a price is the definition of stupidity. No one in their right mind would walk onto a used car lot waving $10,000 in cash and then attempt to negotiate on price. Before any effort is made to raise the money, simple logic dictates that preliminary negotiations take place, and that the community then be given a price and several options on detailed payment strategies.
Regarding such strategies, it is becoming increasingly evident to many that old-fashioned bond issues, which tap property taxes, are bad and lazy governance. Once upon a time it worked out that taxes on real property made vague mathematics sense. Property owners represented a large enough portion of the population that their taxes were considered roughly commensurate with the services for which they were taxed. Today that is no longer the case. Fewer property owners are increasingly bearing the burden of paying off more bonded indebtedness incurred at the county, state and local levels for the benefit of people who increasingly do not own property or pay property taxes. An expected crisis in the school district already has school district officials talking about a property tax increase to bail them out. Should this happen, an additional property tax levy for ball fields would rightfully face stiffer opposition than before.
Numerous counties and cities throughout the 50 states get by without bonds or even property tax of any kind. Given Malibu’s reputation for bucking trends, doing things its own way, and respecting that many of its citizens are not wealthy and cannot comfortably bear even minuscule tax increases; it would behoove us to show the county and state governments how to think progressively. We can be the tail that wags the dog if only the many bright minds that guide this city would stop bickering and work together to find innovative solutions rather than turn to the same stale political tactics upon which entrenched professional politicians rely to bribe their constituencies. Public Enterprise Revenue Bonds are but one possible solution, which could be considered. Given Malibu’s attractiveness to visitors and tourists, they could be highly lucrative and do not require two-thirds approval as they aren’t payable from taxes or from the general fund.
Any method of financing which places a burden directly upon the citizens of the city directly mortgages the future of Malibu in unhealthy and potentially disastrous ways. This city has a history of dealing with natural disasters fires, floods, mudslides and worse. To risk indebtedness on a luxury like playing fields when the likelihood of such disasters is always around the corner is tantamount to buying a yacht just as your car is about to be repossessed. Worse, such tactics are divisive in the community and could create gentrification in a city that, up to now, has been a model of economic co-existence. Once a bond issue has been passed, future bond issues are a certainty, with unscrupulous politicians using them to buy votes from their constituencies, only to then hand the bill to the minority that didn’t vote for them. Malibu would be wise to keep its fiscal house in order and steer clear of the swamp of bonded indebtedness. There are alternatives and if a forward-thinking city like Malibu doesn’t explore them and lead the way, no one will.
Wade Major