Sacramento's 'beauty queens'

Because there is a certain beauty in a good scam, the governor and legislators should be crowned beauty queens.

Before you breathe a sigh of relief that a state budget fix is on the horizon, be forewarned: The creative financing scheme used to close a multibillion- dollar budget hole is impossible to understand and painful for all Californians.

Until California fundamentally reforms the way tax dollars are budgeted, the state will lurch from one financial crisis to the next.

The state's present sleight-of-hand budgeting steals money from local government to cover up the excesses in Sacramento.

While Sacramento politicians are now taking bows for leading California out of its budget morass, they really haven't. They have simply foisted the consequences and costs to counties, cities, schools and special districts.

When it takes longer for a firefighter to reach our house, a policeman to come to our aid, or a pothole to be filled on our street, we will curse city, county and other local agencies forgetting the real culprits are in Sacramento.

What a beauty of a scam. It's like racking up your credit card bill, stealing your neighbor's money to pay it off and then criticizing the neighbor for failing to properly manage his money.

Consider the car tax. In boom times, then Gov. Pete Wilson and legislators approved a rollback of the vehicle license fee. That was mighty big of them, since they were giving away money intended for cities and counties to provide such services as police and fire protection.

Don't worry, the governor and legislators told cities and counties. The money will be "backfilled" from the state's general fund.

But Gov. Wilson and his successor, Gray Davis, and legislators gave away so much money in tax cuts and special interest "gifts" and California's sagging economy produced less tax revenues that a budget hole developed.

Don't worry, local government was assured. A "trigger" in the car tax rollback would be fired if conditions soured and the rate would be restored.

Gov. Davis pulled the trigger and found himself shot out of office, replaced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose first official act was to roll back the car tax enlarging the state budget hole by $4 billion and leaving multimillion-dollar holes in city and county budgets, including Bakersfield's and Kern's.

As dire local service cutbacks and layoffs are being predicted, The Californian is hearing howls from readers:

"...the car tax was only 'tripled' on the 1st of October, repealed in the middle of November, and we are now in dire need of this money in the middle of December? ... How can you lose or miss something you never had?" asked one writer, who admitted, "This confuses me... ."

Another wrote: "So the county and or city are going to have to come up with extra monies to cover bills. We, as working people, are so sick and tired of these politicians who want to take and take from us. We, as working people, don't get raises every year, but all of our bills keep going up. We just re-balance what we make and what we spend!"

The thieves in Sacramento have once again transferred the consequences of their thievery to their victims back home.

Consider the "triple flip" they used to balance the current state budget. The state took the sales tax money (the first flip) and promised to replace it by giving cities more property tax money (the second flip). That property tax money, however, was already promised to schools. The state promised to replace the money to schools with other unidentified state funds (the third flip).

Confused? You should be. That's exactly the way Sacramento wants you to be. Remember the old con game involving peas and shells? That's how tax money is being handled in Sacramento. The losers are Californians.

Californians must demand their new governor and legislators reform the way taxes are collected and used. Make it consistent, dependable and fair.

"Californians must demand their new governor and legislators reform the way taxes are collected and used. Make it consistent, dependable and fair."

Each and every person has a different opinion on what this statement means. For most people, "fair" means at least 20% lower taxes and increased services for their favorite hobby horse. To have anything remotely resembling agreement on what it takes so that "taxes are consistent, dependable, and fair" is completely impossible. Everybody in their right mind knows this. The post is propaganda designed to agitate the gullible.

"While towns and counties and municipal authorities have use bankruptcy, I don't think a state ever has."

I think that the doctrine of State sovereignty means that a State can abrogate contracts binding the State at will. The State can say that financial obligations it has are void, and if you don't like it, sue in the State courts.

I am wondering about the legal rammifications of county "bankruptcy." I can see where "charter" cities and counties could file, as they have established themselves as separate corporate entities. Most counties, however, are General Law counties. They were created by the State Legislature, not directly by the People, and are an extension of the State.

I know we had once considered trying to get closer to "home rule" (direct delegetation of authority by the People) through use of a charter. It was pointed out at that time that there would be a change in financial risk. It is not clear to me whether, when it comes down to bankruptcy, regular county debt is not backed by the full faith and credit of the State.

One of the ways of preventing the State from robbing the Counties and Cities is the 2004 Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act http://www.csac.counties.org/legislation/local_tax/index.html

It was filed by a coalition of local government leaders to increase local control over our local tax dollars. This measure would let the voters have the final say on proposed actions by the State Legislature that would further reduce local government funding. It would protect the vital local services that California residents rely on each and every day - such as public safety and emergency care, roads, libraries, parks and transportation - by requiring voter approval before the State could reduce funding for local services or shift more costs to local governments.

Thanks for the link and info.

I'll check out One of the ways of preventing the State from robbing the Counties and Cities is the 2004 Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act counties are really extensions of state govt.. we can change things .. maybe radical reforms can save this state yet.

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