Laserfiche WebLink
<br />8A <br />Page 13 <br /> <br />budget. The proposal provides an "insurance policy" guarantee of a 1 percent sales tax increase <br />trigger should the proposal fail at the November ballot. <br /> <br />Some Budget Wild Cards <br /> <br />Proposals from Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill have thrown some "wild cards" into the state's <br />budget process. On Monday, May 19, Hill released her analysis of the Governor's revised budget <br />and continued to offer an alternative budget. <br /> <br />The LAO has advanced numerous ideas on how to save the state money by shifting state <br />parolees to county probation, but by paying for it largely by taking city public safety dollars, such <br />as Proposition 172 funds. Other proposals have included taking all city Vehicle Licensing Fee <br />(VLF) funds - at $4.50 per capita - and taking enterprise special district property tax. <br /> <br />In addition, the LAO has proposed to save additional state dollars by eliminating funding for the <br />Citizen Options for Public Safety (COPS) program and Booking Fees. And finally, the LAO has <br />unveiled a new educational revenue augmentation funds (ERAF)-type proposal that seeks to shift <br />$200 million per year in local redevelopment funds to offset state budget expenses. <br /> <br />Another political"wild card" is the "Safe Neighborhoods Act: Protecting Victims, Stop Gang, Drug <br />and Street Crime," which is widely expected to qualify for the November 2008 ballot. This <br />measure enhances criminal penalties for various gang and other crimes, protects state funding <br />for COPS, booking fees and other state-funded local public safety programs, and proposes <br />several new local public safety programs to be funded by the state General Fund. Partisan <br />positioning has already begun on this measure. The League has not yet taken a position on the <br />initiative and is currently analyzing its effect on cities. <br /> <br />For a full discussion on the Safe Act, please see "Safe Neighborhoods Act Targeted for November 2008 <br />Ballot" on page 5. <br /> <br />Budget Action Day Materials <br /> <br />The League prepared an issue paper with messages for city officials to use in their meetings with <br />legislators. This document is on the legislative resources page of the League's Web site at <br />www.cacities.orq/learesources. <br /> <br />Guest Speakers <br /> <br />Three important speakers addressed attendees at Wednesday's event. <br /> <br />California Department of Finance Director Mike Genest reminded city officials that the state is <br />facing a $17.2 billion shortfall- significantly greater than the amount faced in January due to a <br />worsening housing market and faltering economy. He explained the components of the budget <br />problem, and defended the "key" to the Governor's proposal, the securitization of the state lottery, <br />by stating that the lottery is currently under-performing and that by modernizing it and selling the <br />future profits of the incremental revenue increase, the state can have up-front cash-flow relief <br />now. <br /> <br />"We need to be a team with cities, to ensure there is budget reform and that we keep our hands <br />off ERAF and Prop. 42 funds," he said. <br /> <br />Assembly Member Roger Niello (R-Sacramento), vice-chair of the Budget Committee, said that <br />this is the third time in a decade and a half that the state has found itself in a budget crisis. <br /> <br />"The problem is that we spend based on how well we're doing," Niello said. "There's a built-in <br />weakness between spending and income during the bad times. Budget reform is needed. If we <br />just pass the budget and don't address some of these other issues, we will have missed an <br />important opportunity." <br /> <br />3 <br />