Posted on 02/27/2011 9:07:26 AM PST by SmithL
In a purely political sense, Gov. Jerry Brown wants to eliminate local redevelopment agencies and shift much of their tax money to other services for the same reason that legendary bandit Willie Sutton reputedly robbed banks – "because that's where the money is."
Brown wants to recapture a third of the $5 billion-plus that more than 400 redevelopment agencies skim off the top of the property tax pot each year. He also wants to eliminate local "enterprise zones" and their tax breaks, and tap into a special fund, financed by surtaxes on high-income taxpayers, that pays for mental health services, and a cigarette tax fund designated for children's programs.
Brown couches the shifts in moral terms. "We take from redevelopment and we put $1 billion into schools. That's a good thing," Brown said after unveiling his budget in January. "It's just a matter of making hard choices," he said last week.
That position has the virtue of logic. State and local governments have assumed more spending commitments than revenue systems can finance, so prioritization becomes vital and that, in turn, may require breaching the walls that separate the myriad public money pots.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
And all the Mexifornian Bean Counters are in the Burrito..
Its really like a "B" movie.. and Moonbeam Brown is the "HERO"...
As long as Brown remains petrified of the teachers unions then everyone else is going to get hosed. Education is already the majority of the budget. At what point do they have enough?
Republican State Senator Strickland said that if the people deserved a choice to raise taxes, then they also deserved a choice to lower taxes. I loved it!
Nice.
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