Here's the way I see it now. County Supervisor Bill Postmus who represents the County of San Bernardino recently went to bat for a private company "Cemex" in an assessor deal to give the company a break on its property tax bill. . Let me try the Cemex line, Hey Bill, The people of Hesperia are having trouble with your government, It seems that we have all these problems in Hesperia and you won't return our property tax to the city like the county does for every other city in it! Please fix the problem like you did with Cemex and return Hesperia's fair share of property tax. 9% will do. Just like in Apple Valley! We will remember what you do in November!

Equal Treatment for Hesperia Property Tax Payers!!!

 Here's the story from the Sun.

Race for assessor takes new twist
Jeff Horwitz, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County  Sun May 28,2006

In an assessor's campaign centered on who can deliver better service to county residents, three candidates have accused the fourth of once going too far.

First District Supervisor Bill Postmus once attempted to personally intervene in the office's business to help a major High Desert corporation fight increases in its property taxes, the three candidates say.

Postmus called Assessor Don Williamson late one night about an appeal filed by Cemex USA, Williamson said, demanding that a Postmus-appointed representative of the appeals board be present during talks between the Assessor's Office and the company.

"Staff felt pressured. I felt pressured," Williamson said.

Postmus, also the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and his chief of staff dismissed the criticism as the last-minute mudslinging of candidates with neither the resume nor the resources to challenge the supervisor's record, noting that Williamson ultimately supported the deal.

"For three years, (Cemex) tried to come to an agreement with the assessor over the value of their property," forcing the company to spend millions in attorneys' fees, Postmus said. "We asked the assessor to find a solution, and he did."

The company in question, Cemex, is a subsidiary of a multibillion-dollar international cement manufacturer. In 2000, it came into possession of High Desert cement facilities after buying up a competitor. Cemex also came into possession of its new facilities' former tax disputes, receiving tens of millions in reductions from the assessment-appeals board for a 2000 claim.

The tax sparring didn't end there.

In 2003, Cemex received a "notice of escaped assessment" from the Assessor's Office, informing the company that it would have to pay taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars in additional property value accrued since its purchase of Southwest Portland Cement.

Cemex disagreed and filed an appeal protesting the increases. Overall, Cemex claimed, the value of its property hadn't budged from $185 million between 2001 and 2004, while the Assessor's Office claimed it had risen to $387 million in the same period as its production rose.

Large corporations with extensive properties regularly appeal their property-tax assessments, said Debra Lemos, clerk of the assessment-appeals board. With hundreds of millions of dollars in property and equipment, there's usually a few things worth objecting to. In fact, Cemex has since appealed its subsequent assessments.

Only about half of the assessment appeals filed ever make it to an appeals board, Lemos said. Often the property owner and the Assessor's Office will haggle their way to a compromise or the applicant will simply withdraw their claim. But a resolution was not forthcoming for Cemex's properties, and negotiations stalled. Representatives of Cemex approached Postmus complaining the Assessor's Office was being intractable.

As a supervisor, Postmus said he regularly hears from businesses looking for help. Cemex was a campaign contributor, previously donating "a couple thousand dollars" to his campaign, he said. But, more important, he said, was the fact the company was one of the 1st District's largest employers.

So the supervisor did what he always does "when I have a large employer come to me and say 'we're having trouble with your government,' " Postmus said. He got involved.

Postmus was concerned that the Assessor's Office continued to fight Cemex despite the company's successful appeals in the past, his chief of staff Brad Mitzelfelt said. Of even greater concern, he said, was the possibility that the dispute could threaten the jobs that would come with a proposed Cemex expansion.

Cemex did not respond to e-mails seeking comment on its talk with Postmus, but Mitzelfelt said the company made a strong case that the Assessor's Office was being unreasonable.

"The Assessment Appeals Board had ruled in favor of Cemex more than once," he said. "That's a red flag for our office."

Postmus contacted Williamson, who must rely on the Board of Supervisors for money to run his department.

"I said, 'Don, you need to solve this problem,' " Postmus said.

On June 1, Cemex and the Assessor's Office reached a settlement stipulating that the base year value for its properties in 2000 was just under $234 million, $61 million less than the Assessor's Office had originally said. Similar reductions were applied to subsequent years.

County appraisers Michael Willhite and Al Palazzo, who are both running for assessor, said the deal was more than generous.

"(Cemex) met with Don, they brought nothing to the table, and they got a $200 million reduction over four years," Willhite said. "It was settled in the backroom."

Although Williamson said Postmus' approach had been heavyhanded, he said it hadn't worked. Although Cemex eventually settled for the $61 million deduction, "they were trying to get far less," he said.

Deputy County Counsel Kevin Norris, who said he was present for the negotiations, said he didn't notice any pressure from Postmus' representative, Mike Orme. "My understanding was he was simply there to gain an understanding of the issues," Norris said, and Orme stayed only for the public segment of the negotiations.

Afterward, Norris, Williamson, and the assessor's staff agreed to offer Cemex its settlement in private, Norris said.

Rick Auerbach, Los Angeles County assessor and the head of the California Assessor's Association, could not address the specifics of the Cemex case, but said it would be inappropriate for a political figure to interject himself into an assessment appeal, even for noble reasons.

"In my view, you don't lower somebody's property tax to encourage business. That's not our job," he said. "In Los Angeles, the supervisors realize it's not their job to do the valuation of property."

Mitzelfelt said Postmus had in no way asked the Assessor's Office to come up with a sweetheart deal for Cemex. Criticizing Postmus for trying to help settle a dispute that threatened High Desert jobs is "a bureaucratic attitude," Mitzlefelt said. "That's not the attitude of a leader that's fighting for jobs and trying to grow our economy."

Should he be elected, Postmus said, the Assessor's Office would be more accommodating to county businesses when appropriate.

"They've added several hundred jobs to my area," he said of Cemex. "I want to use that office to make San Bernardino County a more business-friendly place."

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What I got out the above story is that Postmus negotiated a $200 million dollar tax break for Cemex who happens to be a donor to his campaign. Now consider the people of Hesperia who also pay property tax to the County of San Bernardino, but have only seen 1.6% of it returned to the City of Hesperia since incorporation in 1988. This is a quote from Ed Pack in a June 13 2006 Daily Press Story,   

"Our founding fathers didn't do a very good job in getting us an equal share of our tax dollars," Councilman Ed Pack said. Hesperia, which incorporated the same year as the town of Apple Valley, gets just 1.6 percent property tax, while Apple Valley gets 9 percent, he said.

If it's a matter of Tax Fairness or even treating the residents of Hesperia the same as the residents of Apple Valley . Returning an equal amount of property tax money to the community where it came out is the least Mr. Postmus should do as our County Supervisor. Do the right thing and give Hesperia its FAIR share of property tax money. If he can give a campaign contributor a $200 Million dollar break he can give Hesperia back the same amount as Apple Valley gets 9%. Oh yea, and make it retroactive like you did for Cemex so we can hire some cops or pave some of the lousy roads.  

Remember his actions in November when your phone keeps ringing and you are asked to vote for  him for Assessor. If he treats the people of Hesperia like 3rd class citizens ,behind every other City in the County in property tax returned to the City. And then gives huge tax breaks to Cemex and other business's with Your Property Tax dollars.