Tax district proposed for Lost Hills divides residents, property owners

Sep. 9—One community's push for greater self-determination in northwest Kern County is bumping up against property owners' resistance to new taxes as a regional ag giant looks to take more of a back-seat role in local affairs after investing $90 million to improve residents' quality of life.

Los Angeles-based The Wonderful Co. applied last year to form the Lost Hills Community Services District, which would take in about half a million dollars per year in new taxes to help cover recreation programming and expenses like landscaping and streetlight maintenance. It would cut the company's maintenance and other costs, even as it would be the largest financial contributor to the district.

The proposal dismays other farmers and ranchers with property in the area whose annual tax bill would rise even as they expect to receive little or no benefit. Because most of them live outside the area, they would have limited say on whether the district is established and would not qualify to serve on its governing board.

"It's taxation without representation is what it is," said Bakersfield resident Joe Sill, whose farmland and ranch 10 miles west of Lost Hills would be included in the 301,725-acre district.

But Rosario "Chayo" Velasquez, head of a local community advisory board, said the district would give Lost Hills residents greater say in local matters, even as she acknowledged she had been unaware of the property owners' concerns until Thursday and now "understand(s) their frustrations."

"We just want to be able to grow in the way that we the community can be able to provide (for) our own," said the lifelong Lost Hills resident who works as a housing manager for Buttonwillow-based farming company Sandridge Partners.

Lost Hills is an unincorporated, mostly farmworker community of about 2,668 people surrounded by farmland and oil fields near Interstate 5 and Highway 46. Residents there have benefited greatly from the charity of Wonderful and its owners, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, who in the 2000s selected Lost Hills to be the focus of their Central Valley philanthropy.

The company continues to pay about $750,000 per year providing local services and keeping up maintenance at Lost Hills Wonderful Park, which has a state-of-the-art soccer field and robust recreational programming. Wonderful also provides grant money in support of a charter school it founded in Lost Hills.

If the district receives final approval next year, Wonderful's annual costs would decline to about $110,000 per year, though the Resnicks have pledged about $1 million to kickstart the organization, not counting $250,000 per year for the first five years.

Wonderful said in an emailed statement it will always invest in the people of Lost Hills with resources for education, health, wellness, infrastructure, parks and recreation.

"We could not be more supportive of the residents' desire for self-determination or their decision to form the Lost Hills Community Service District, which will bring together an elected board, create a stronger voice for the community, and support programming and essential maintenance," the company stated.

It added, "We believe this is the best path forward to ensure a thriving, sustainable and self-governing Lost Hills."

The district would be roughly bounded by the Kern-Kings county line on the north, the Kern-San Luis Obispo county line on the west, Lerdo Highway on the south and Interstate 5 on the east.

Households within the district's boundaries would pay $60 per year to help support the district. Nonresidential property owners would have to pay $150 per parcel per year, regardless of the size of their parcels. Together, those payments would be projected to raise $530,000 at first, then increase gradually over time.

More than half the money to support the district would not be generated by the new assessment. It would instead come from a proposed tax-sharing agreement with county government that's expected to raise an additional $630,000 per year to pay for services in Lost Hills, many of which are now covered by the county.

The fate of the proposal is expected to be decided by two separate votes scheduled in March. One would be a ballot measure that would go before voters living within the district's proposed boundaries. Approval would require a simple majority.

The other vote would be put to property owners within the district. At least two-thirds of them would need to vote in favor of the proposal, or it would fail regardless of the other election. It was unclear what share of parcels within the district are owned by Wonderful, whose support may or may not decide the vote of property owners.

A first hearing on the proposal is set for Sept. 20, hosted by the Kern Local Area Formation Commission, which is overseeing the process. A protest hearing is expected to follow later.

Two meetings on the proposal took place within the last week. The one Thursday was attended by property owners, project proponents and representatives of Wonderful. The other, on Friday, was made up of ranchers and farmers who took their case to LAFCO board member David Couch, who also represents the Lost Hills area on the county Board of Supervisors.

Couch did not respond to requests for comment.

Paso Robles resident Sharon Roden, who grows pistachios and raises cattle within the proposed district's boundaries, said she and others feel like they were deliberately left out of the district's planning process, having only recently learned about the proposal's existence.

Impressed by Wonderful's largesse over the years, Roden said she would probably have been glad to write a check in support of public services in Lost Hills, but that she sees the district as "one more added expense" for the area's ag producers.

Her understanding was that the Lost Hills residents want to be able to stand on their own — "but they're not," she said. "They're standing on our shoulders."

Nearby rancher Keith Grant noted he owns 10 parcels within the proposed district, meaning he would have to pay $1,500 per year if it wins approval. And he would rather not.

"I will get absolutely no benefit from it," he said.

Velasquez said the overriding goal of the proposal is to help families trying to provide better opportunities for their children, or at least keep them busy and safe after school.

The district could eventually lead to an effort to incorporate Lost Hills as its own city, she said, as a way of giving greater voice and control to local residents.

"We've got to start somewhere, right?" Velasquez asked.