Fresno Area Elected Officials, Public Safety Officers, Transportation and Transit Advocates Kick Off Signature Gathering Drive for Statewide Ballot Measure

Supporters Say November 2010 Ballot Measure is Needed to Protect Funding for Public Safety, Emergency Response, Parks, Transportation and Transit Projects and other Vital Local Services.

For Immediate Release: January 8, 2010

Fresno, CA – Numerous Fresno area local government, transportation, business, public safety and public transit leaders rallied today at Fresno City Hall to kick off a statewide signature-gathering campaign to qualify the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010 (AG Initiative #: 09-0063) for the November 2010 ballot.

The measure closes loopholes to prevent the State from taking, diverting or borrowing local government, transportation, and public transit funds. 

Californians to Protect Local Taxpayers and Vital Services, the coalition sponsoring the ballot measure, will collect more than 1.1 million signatures to ensure it meets the required 694,354 valid signatures needed to qualify a constitutional amendment for the statewide ballot. 

Today’s kick off event in Fresno is one of several similar rallies held statewide this week. Hundreds of local government, public safety, business, and labor leaders have signed up to assist in a massive volunteer signature gathering effort.

“Sacramento can’t continue to use local funds as a backfill for state budget deficits,” said Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin. “Voters have made it clear they want local government funds to be spent on locally delivered services, yet Sacramento keeps digging its hands in our pockets. The resulting trickle-down effect makes it impossible for us to budget and puts at risk the critical services our residents depend on like public safety and transportation improvements. We need this ballot measure so we can put a stop to state raids and borrowing of local taxpayer dollars and protect vital local services.”

California voters have repeatedly and overwhelmingly passed measures to restrict state raids of local government funds, as well as to dedicate gasoline taxes to transportation and public transit improvements and services. Despite this, State elected officials have exploited loopholes in the law and used legally questionable tactics to borrow and raid more than $5 billion in local government, transit and redevelopment funds this year alone, and billions more in past years. Coupled with the downturn in the economy and falling local government revenues, state raids and borrowing of local funds are contributing to severe cutbacks in local police and fire services, parks, libraries, street and road repair, public transit and other local services.

In the Fresno region, these budget cuts have been made because of decreased revenues:

• In the City of Fresno they have defunded 220 non-sworn positions in the police department and mandatory furloughs were implemented city wide.

• The City of Clovis has eliminated 90 positions (46 vacant positions, 36 job transfers and/or retirements and 8 layoffs – including 25 police and fire officers). They have cut $8 million from the general fund and eliminated 20% of the workforce due to the revenue shortfall since 2006. Youth recreation programs have been cut about 85%.

• The City of Kingsburg eliminated all expenditures for capital equipment purchases including the replacement of aging police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. The city isn’t offering annual pay increases, and the employees agreed to the doubling of their health insurance contribution.

• The City of Selma has furloughed all City Hall and Administration employees every Friday. Police and fire are furloughed one day every two weeks. The employees, by accepting these furloughs, have saved the city $1 million and allowed the city to continue to keep their doors open. Additionally, every department cut their budget by 5%. They have gone from 140 to 110 employees in the past several years.

• The City of Reedley cut maintenance and operations, reduced part-time personnel, and cut programs in the community services and parks department.

• The City of Madera has made cuts in every department totaling over $1.5 million. These include everything from freezing non-sworn officer positions in public safety to deferring replacement of equipment and cutting positions.

If passed, the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety, and Transportation Act of 2010 would:
• Prohibit the state from borrowing local government property tax funds which are vital for public safety and other local services.
• Prohibit the state from borrowing or taking gasoline taxes which are dedicated to transportation and transit improvements and services, including the state sales tax on gasoline (Prop. 42 funds), and the Highway User Tax on gasoline (HUTA).
• Prevent the taking of locally levied taxes, including parcel taxes, sales taxes, and other locally imposed taxes that are currently dedicated to cities, counties and special districts.
• Prohibit the state from taking, borrowing or redirecting existing funding for public transit, including existing taxes on gas and “spillover” funds dedicated to the Public Transportation Account.
• Add additional constitutional protections to prevent the state from raiding redevelopment funds or shifting redevelopment funds to other state purposes.

Cities, counties and special districts provide the vast majority of law enforcement, fire protection, emergency response and public safety services in California. In fact, on average, 65% of city discretionary budgets go to fund police and fire programs and services and more than half of county discretionary budgets go to fund law enforcement, emergency medical and public health programs and services.

Gas taxes paid at the pump are supposed to be dedicated to transportation and transit improvement projects like road safety repairs, congestion relief, and maintaining and expanding mass transit.  Despite this, in the past few years alone the state has raided billions of dollars in public transit funding, and has threatened to borrow or outright take billions of dollars including Prop. 42 and HUTA gas tax funds that are supposed to fund transportation and transit improvements.

“California voters have repeatedly supported statewide measures that dedicate the gas taxes we pay at the pump for transportation and transit projects,” said Ken Hamm, Director of Transportation, City of Fresno/Department of Transportation/Fresno Area Express. “Despite this, year after year the Legislature exploits every loophole it can find to borrow or raid these critical funds.  Sometimes the theft of these resources is done knowing it’s against the law, but since there’s no punishment, the shell game in Sacramento continues. This measure will once and for all protect gas taxes from future raids and insure they are used to improve our roads, highways, buses, shuttles and commuter rail systems – just as the voters intended.”