Every year, Angelenos are reminded of what it means to pay their share . We file, we write the checks, and we trust that the money serves a purpose. In Los Angeles County , that trust has been stretched to its limit. When I founded the Los Angeles County Taxpayers Association, our county had been taxed, lectured, and managed into submission for so long that most residents had resigned themselves to the constant dysfunction as a fixed feature of life, like the traffic or the Santa Ana winds .