American Notes Taxation

Pay-per-view TV is one thing, say the residents of Port Hueneme, Calif., but this is ridiculous! Eight homeowner groups are suing that sleepy coastal city, located 65 miles north of Los Angeles, to protest a new tax on beach properties determined in part by how close they are to the ocean. The "view tax," as the local press has dubbed it, was imposed in July to help maintain a 52-acre park along the beach. It will cost property owners closest to the water an extra $192 a year. The homeowner groups, comprising most of the 1,250 property holders affected by the tax, complain that they were already assessed higher taxes when they bought their homes and are now being hit with a double whammy.

City officials counter that the tax is not really for the view but for proximity to the beach. Such distinctions are lost on angry homeowners like Don Fresh, who will be surtaxed on three beachfront properties. Says he: "This used to be a graceful little city. But now it's us against them."