(Los Angeles) County's highest property taxes are in its poorest cities

[alp227]

Struggling to balance their budgets with meager tax bases, some of Los Angeles County's poorest cities charge their residents the highest property tax rates.

Working-class cities such as Compton, San Fernando, Maywood, Huntington Park and Inglewood have among the highest property tax rates, while several upper-class cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Bay have among the lowest rates, records from the L.A. County auditor-controller show.

The Times reported last week that while Bell was paying its city manager nearly $800,000, it was also charging its residents the second highest tax rate in the county, surpassed only by a few residential parcels in the City of Industry.

But even without the burden of unusually large salaries, many small cities with low-income populations have pushed property tax rates much higher than their more affluent counterparts. The gap underscores the financial bind that cities face and the regressive nature of property taxes, fiscal experts said.

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Bell and other cities with high rates have so-called special taxes that were added to property tax bills before Proposition 13 required two-thirds voter approval to do so. Bell and San Fernando have pension taxes to pay for the retirements of city workers.

Full story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-property-taxes-20100803,0,4816382.story

[mackerel]

1. How is that possible? Property taxes are rated by the

county you live in. Wouldn't all of Los Angeles County would pay the same property tax?