A Santa Cruz judge made it official Tuesday: The words ``legally'' and ``illegal'' will not appear in ballot arguments for Measure P, the initiative to kill Santa Cruz's utility tax.

And both sides seemed happy with the result.

``I think it accomplishes what we set out to do,'' said Assistant City Attorney Anthony Condotti, ``which is to strike the factors of the argument that aren't just pure rhetoric but were factually misleading.''

``I think we got 90 percent,'' said Mike Schmidt, one of the signers of the pro-P ballot argument. ``I have no complaints at all.''

The city and the signers had already agreed on three of the changes sought in the lawsuit, which was formally brought by City Clerk Leslie Cook. Those changes allow the pro-P forces to call the utility tax ``unjust'' but not ``illegal'' in one place, and to accuse the city of ``greedily'' taxing its residents, but not ``illegally.'' A third change altered language about the community service groups the city donates to.

Tuesday's ruling ended the fight over the one remaining issue: whether the pro-P forces could claim that, as a matter of state constitutional law, residents had a ``right'' to police and fire protection as a top priority. The idea was to counter the city's argument that ending the utility tax threatens those services.

``Santa Cruzans are legally entitled to essential police, fire, public works and street maintenance services,'' the ballot argument read.

Remove the word ``legally'' and you have the way the argument now reads. The city attorney had suggested changing ``legally entitled'' to ``have a right to expect,'' but Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Richard McAdams took the simplest compromise.

He acknowledged ``that the court should not be a drafter of ballot arguments,'' praised the two sides for reaching most of the compromises on their own, and wished the residents of Santa Cruz ``good luck.''

``I'm just glad it's over,'' said county Elections Manager Gail Pellerin.

It may be over for her, but the fight is just beginning for backers and opponents of the tax. Two former mayors, Neal Coonerty and Lorette Wood, are among the leaders of a ``Save Our City Coalition,'' organized to save what's left of the city's budget after about $2 million in cuts were made in June.

The pro-P forces, fresh from their victory in March over the county's utility tax, hope to cancel a 1984 city tax that is expected to bring in $8.4 million, or nearly 20 percent of the general fund, during the current fiscal year. The county estimated during budget hearings that it lost $9.7 million when its utility tax lost at the polls.

Steve Hartman, the spokesman for the pro-P forces, represented them in McAdams' court, without an attorney. A local radio station personality, Hartman wears a tie pin boosting a constitutional amendment to protect the flag and drives a war surplus ambulance.

He declared himself satisfied with the judge's ruling -- ``I think he struck a reasonable balance'' -- before launching into his campaign speech for the benefit of two reporters. ``I still say if a law is `unjust' but not `illegal,' then it ought to be illegal,'' he roared.