AgdaPkt 2002-09-23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I .A- JULY/AUGUST HIGHWAY USERS TAX PAYMENTS MADE With the passage and signing of the budget finally completed, the State Controller's office has moved to make the overdue Highway Users Tax Payments (Traffic Congestion Relief Fund). During the budget stalemate, State Controller Kathleen Connell announced that she would suspend these payments until a budget was signed. Both the July and August payments ($48/month to cities) were withheld. The first of these two payments was distributed on Tuesday, September 11. The second will be made on Friday, September 13. All future payments wilJ be made according to schedule. By all estimates, balancing the 2003-04 FY budget will present many of the same threats to local revenues that local governments feared, but managed through their lobbying efforts to avoid in this year's budget negotiations. Should another budget stalemate arise next year, prompt payment of these Highway Users Tax Payments could again be injeopardy. SILICON VAII Fy TAX FORUM 1'O EX?LORE REVENLrr. S IgmlED FOR REGIONAL STEWARDSHIP League Executive Director Chris McKenzie, Sunnyvale City Manager Bob La sola, and League economic consultant Michael Coleman will be featured speakers at a forum entitled Taxes & Our Communities - Is Our System Sustainable? sponsored by the Joint Ve~ture Silicon Valiey's Tax Policy Group and the California Policy Forum. The program will be held on Thursday, September 26 from 7:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m, at the Microsoft Conference Center in Mountain View. Local and state government officials, industry and community leaders and the general public are all invited, with local government financin9 a focus of the day. The Forum hopes to stimulate a larger discussion and a call to action for regional stewardship. League Peninsula Division members have been actively involved in the planning of this important and timely forum. A key focus is to help participants better understand the various revenue sources used to provide regional services and infrastructure support, directly affecting quality of life. Sponsors hope to ensure that leaders in every sector understand California's tax and fiscal foundation and become informed advocates for resolving quality of life issues, working within principles of good tax policy, The morning session will provide information on California's many.jurisdictions, the fundamentals of California taxes, and how tax taw and policy are created and shaped. The afternoon breakout sessions will explore how the fiscal structure affects quality of life issues such as economic development, transportation, education and housing. Two follow-up sessions are scheduled for those interested. Other presenters will include: Bill Barrett, Vice President, Tax and Trade, Applied Materials; Peter Detweiler. Chief Consultant, Senate Local Government Committee; Mark Ibele, Principal Fiscal & Policy Analyst, Legislative Analyst Office; Dan Kostenbauder, Tax Counsel, Hewlett Packard; Terri Sexton, Associate Director, Center for State & Local Taxation, UC Davis; Chair, Economic Department, CSU Sacramento; Larry Stone. Santa Clara County Assessor; Lunch Speaker and Annette Nellen, Tax Professor, San Jose Sate University; Chair, Joint Venture Tax Policy Group, The $65 registration fee includes admission for the presentations and breakout sessions, continental breakfast and buffet, lunch, and complimentary copies of Joint Venture Tax Policy Group's publications and position papers. Register online at http://www:jointventure.org/initiatives/tax/taxforum_reg.html or call 408-938-1524. (Deadline Friday, September 20.) PAGE 2/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--www.cacities.or9