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PRESS QUOTES from page 1 ...... a ............. .................... . Ventura County Star 2/19103 Editorial: Give voters a stab at budget. The so-called car tax should be the easiest to raise since it was drastically cut in 1998, with the stipulation that it would be raised if the state could not reimburse cities for the lost revenue so vital for local services such as police and fire. Modesto Bee 2119/03 Merced council rips budget cuts, By Michael Mello, Bee Staff Writer "What I'm seeing in this budget is that local government takes all the pain," (Senator Jeff) Denham said. "And that's wrong. Sacramento Bee 2/17/03 Dan Walters: Revenue numbers point to a rational way out of crisis. If the annual (structural) gap is bridged by spending reduc- tions and /or revenue increases, the future takes care of itself. Restoring the car tax and repealing other recent tax breaks could cover about half the yearly deficit — a fair approach because those tax cuts were based on irrational revenue assumptions in the first place... The Torrance Daily Breeze 2/14/03 Breeze editorial: Don't siphon funds from cities, transit. The notion of seizing cities' redevelopment funds is so out of bounds that many experts view it as patently illegal. There is no easy way out of the state's budget crisis. But there clearly are better ways than raiding the already committed revenues of local governments. Oakland Tribune 2/14/03 Takeaways will hurt citizens - -Arne CROCE (City Manager of San Mateo): "In making his proposal, the governor and other mem- bers of his administration consistently make an asser- tion that sounds very fair: The state shared the good times with local government, so local government must share the bad times with the state. This is simply not true." "During the economic boom, the state did not share any of the revenue that produced its multi - billion dollar surpluses with California's cities and counties. In fact, even during the best of times, the state continued to take away local government property tax year after year." Woodland Daily Democrat editorial: Denying [VLF] funds which have already been taken by the state will make it almost impossible for local governments to provide services demanded by the public. Lassen County News article about VLF – Susanville City Manager Newell Sorensen was quoted in this piece: "Back when the state had lots of money, they decided to cut taxes, not one providing revenue to the state but one providing revenue to cities and counties. They got all the credit for it and some- body else got all the negative benefit." The Tahoe Daily Tribune –South Lake Tahoe City Manager David Jinkens: "'We're responsible for providing basic services. We do the real things that affect real people. This is our bread and butter,' Jinkens said, listing snow removal as well as police and fire as other services supported through the $21 million general fund." The Amador Ledger- Dispatch [Governor] Davis' proposed changes to the VLF, made public January 10, would impact the city of Jackson to the tune of $160,000 annually. Paid into the city's general fund, the funding is equivalent to two police officer positions or two years of street paving projects. BUDGET UPDATE The Administration is reportedly exploring whether the vehicle license fee (VLF) can be increased administratively, using existing law – without any elected official having to "pull the trigger". Finance Director Steve Peace and State Controller Steve Westly are looking for a way to achieve "automatic" restoration of the fees, that would also withstand legal challenges. If the fees could be increased, Assembly Democrats would reportedly move forward the $3.3 billion in cuts already approved for the current fiscal year, but currently conjoined to AB 4X (VLF Trigger bill) – about a third of what the Governor re- quested, but better than no action at all. • The Senate may vote Monday on spending cuts – possibly the same package of cuts previously approved. The Assembly may act on cuts next Thursday. The Los Angeles Times reported today that a group of "at least five Republicans and six Democrats in the state Assembly have crossed party lines and joined forces to call for an immediate, comprehensive review of state government ", looking for a way to solve the state's budget problems by June 15. (See "Bipartisan Assembly Group Tackles State Budget Crisis ", at www.lafimes.com.) Visit the League's Official Web Site -- www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS /PAGE 7