Council approves $10,496 to settle back-tax claim and accept public street easement in Council District 11

The Los Angeles City Council on April 28 approved an amendment and subsequent action to accept dedication of a public street easement and to compensate a property owner who had paid back taxes on land later found to have been used as a city street.

Councilmember Janice Misakowski (chairing the committee for this item) described a long-running title anomaly in Council District 11: the city had built and maintained a 30-foot-by-300-foot strip as a street about 30 years earlier but the formal dedication/easement had not been recorded. The current property owner paid back taxes beginning in 1983 when the county flagged the liability and had continued paying taxes since then, the council heard.

The city attorney had advised that a nominal payment of $100 could be legally sufficient because of the timing of the claim. Misakowski said the matter raised equity questions beyond the narrow legal exposure and proposed an amendment (8a) to appropriate $10,496 from the general fund to compensate the owner for back taxes and accept the easement. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Alex Padilla and Councilmember Jackie Goldberg.

Councilmember Misakowski also noted that the amendment replaces the committee report’s recommendation of a $100 nominal payment with the greater appropriation to make the owner whole for back taxes accepted by the county assessor since 1983. The council recorded a roll call approving the amendment 12–0 and then approved item 8 as amended 12–0 and ordered it forthwith.

Outcome: acceptance of the public street easement, appropriation of $10,496 from the general fund to reimburse the property owner for taxes, and instructions to process the acceptance forthwith.