The $180 million ‘grumble’

Residents of Newport Coast, understandably, are not going to be happy with the results of a Newport Beach investigation into what happened to about $180 million in tax money they paid to the county while the area was still unincorporated. The answer: The county, legally, spent the money, some on projects in Newport Coast ? streets and sidewalks, parks ? but some on projects not exactly in Newport Coast’s back yard. A library in Laguna Beach, for instance. A sheriff’s substation in Aliso Viejo, for another.

The county’s spending certainly doesn’t seem fair, but according to city officials, there really is nothing the city or Newport Coast residents can do about it. “I expect there to be grumbling, but it’s pretty hard to take an action from here because of the time that’s gone by, and so far no legal issues have come up ? The money wasn’t wasted or blown on salaries,” Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff told the Pilot.

Such talk isn’t soothing residents. “Looking at the draft that led up to the report, I thought there were questions that were still unanswered, information that was not available in a way that was satisfactory to me as a taxpayer, and I continue to believe that the county mismanaged the funds that it was entrusted with in the assessment district pool,” resident Jim McGee also told the Pilot.

Unfortunately for residents who wanted an answer that might get them some money back, it simply doesn’t look like there was any mismanagement. Residents are going to have to accept that fact, but they at least can take solace in the fact that they now have a more responsive city government that will look into such matters, rather than create them.

Of course, that may not feel like it is worth $180 million.