Locals kick off petition drive to protect tax revenue

Monterey County Herald

January 8, 2010

By Jim Johnson

If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators have any plans to balance California's budget by taking or borrowing local tax revenue, they might need to do it before November.

That is because a coalition of local government agencies, led by the League of California Cities, is spearheading a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the state from tapping local funds — and require it to pay back money it has already taken.

The coalition wants to place the measure, dubbed the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010, on the November ballot.

On Thursday, local government officials gathered in front of Salinas City Hall to announce their participation in a signature-gathering drive to put the measure on the fall ballot. The measure needs nearly 700,000 valid signatures to qualify, but organizers want to collect about 1.1 million by mid-April.

Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue said supporters are hoping the amendment will "close the loopholes once and for all." He said state officials have been using the loopholes regularly to take local tax money to fund state operations despite several voter-approved efforts to protect the funding.

Donohue was joined Thursday by Monterey-Salinas Transit general manager Carl Sedoryk, Gonzales Police Chief Paul Miller and Hollister Mayor Victor Gomez, among others. He called the measure the "first and most important step in reforming state government."

A host of government reform proposals are being considered in the wake of last year's budget debacle, and several more are expected to make it to the fall ballot.

Last year, the state "borrowed" about $5 billion from city, county, redevelopment, transportation and special district funds in an effort to balance a $21.6 billion budget deficit. The state is reportedly facing a shortfall of another $21 billion headed into the next fiscal year.

Scotts Valley Councilwoman Stephanie Aguilar, a League of Cities board member, said she believes the constitutional amendment has a good chance to emerge from the plethora of reform measures being proposed. She said surveys indicate that most voters trust their local governments far more than they do state officials, pointing out that the governor and state legislature have historically low approval ratings.

Aguilar said voters have shown they understand the "great stress" that state takeaways are placing on local governments and services.