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1A,=¡ SENATE COMMITTEE from page 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Former Speaker Hertzberg was scheduled to Presenting the League/CSAC/CSDA measure make the first presentation. He was joined by were League Immediate Past President John Assembly Members Darrell Steinberg and John Russo; Paul Stein, CSAC president; and Bill Miller, Campbell as well as Mayor Curt Pringle, Anaheim. CSDA president. The local government measure His proposal does the following: contains two essential elements. First, it requires voter approval before the State Legislature and . Initiates a state and local government tax Governor take local govemment sales taxes, swap that involves local government giving up Yo property taxes or vehicle license fee revenues (or cent of local sales tax money and all of the VLF successor revenue). Second, it strengthens the allocation for an equal amount of property taxes. state mandated reimbursement law to give local government greater surety in receiving mandate . Local governments would be given the reimbursements. option to pick one of three sales tax "base years" for determining the swap. The primary theme from the local govemment officials making the presentation was that before . After the swap is made in the base year, the state and local government revenue structure local governlJ1ent revenues grow or decline based can be reformed, it has to be stabilized, and that on the natural growth or decline of the revenue this measure would accomplish that goal, while source. still allowing reform discussions to continue and for those proposals to be brought to the voters for . The state would get a Yo cent increase (I.e., approval. the former Yo cent Bradley Burns local sales tax) in the state sales tax rate and all of the VLF Panel Highlights Housing, Services Concerns revenues to finance schools. with Hertzberg Proposal . A state mandate reimbursement reform In the final panel that appeared before the proposal. committee, Michael Coleman, fiscal consultant to the League, explained some of the major con- . Constitutional protection of local government cerns with the Hertzberg proposal, including its revenues as reconstituted under the Hertzberg impacts on cities and housing production. These proposal. include problems in unincorporated and newly annexed areas and in redevelopment areas, in The proponents of the measure framed their which housing can be expected to generate less proposal as bold, "big think" reform and tended to total revenue to pay for local services than it does downplay the League/CSAC/CSDA measure as under current law. more parochial. Unfortunately, the advocates exited immediately after their presentation, so they Legislators Will Introduce Both Measures did not hear the presentation on the altemative measure. This was unfortunate because they Senator Torlakson announced at the hearing were unable to hear important background infor- that he will introduce the League/CSAC/CSDA mation, including the solid research that underlies measure as a legislative proposal. Assembly the construction of the League/CSAC/CSDA Member Steinberg plans to introduce the measure. In contrast, more than half a dozen Hertzberg measure as a legislative proposal. The versions of Hertzberg's measure have been filed Legislature has until the summer to meet dead- with the Attorney General, making it difficult at this lines to place any measure on the November 2004 point to determine what the measure actually ballot. It is expected that a working group will be contains. formed to examine the two measures during the legislative session. Visit the league's Official Web Site--www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS/PAGE 3