Posted on 04/14/2010 7:40:16 AM PDT by SmithL
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's threat to shut down city government two days a week because of a looming shortage of cash fizzled when city officials suddenly discovered an additional $30 million in property taxes.
Nevertheless, Los Angeles' financial woes are emblematic of a widening crisis in California's 5,000 units of local government as they deal with flattening or even declining property and sales tax revenues, reduced and/or delayed payments from a deficit-wracked state budget, and burgeoning costs. And if their pinch continues, which seems highly likely, some probably will wind up in bankruptcy court.
One city, Vallejo, is already there, having foolishly squandered windfalls of property and sales taxes on unsustainable contracts for its police and firefighters. And the prospect that more public entity bankruptcies could follow is unsettling to public employee unions, who fear their salary contracts and/or pension benefits could be abrogated.
Last year, the unions' allies in the Legislature's Democratic majority pushed legislation that would indirectly give unions a veto power on local government bankruptcies, or at least the power to extract concessions from local officials.
It would do so by requiring insolvent local governments to get permission from the otherwise obscure, nine-member California Debt and Investment Advisory Committee – a committee dominated by union-friendly Democrats – before seeking bankruptcy protection.
Supposedly, it's a good government measure to guard against unjustified bankruptcies. In reality, it would give unions more power over local governments because the committee could either block bankruptcy or compel insolvent agencies to maintain their labor contracts as a condition of filing for bankruptcy.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The unintended consequence of this will be cities simply choosing to dissolve.
What about just carving off a chunk of real estate and going it alone?
IT is a HUGE conflict of interest for there even to be UNIONS who get to vote on HOW MUCH TO TAX others to pay THEM!
stupid is as stupid does
more power ... why?
W.A.S.S.
WhoDat gonna bust them unions?
That’s the truth! Before the O got elected, the unions were becoming a thing of the past! Very few participants were paying into dues. I forgot the stats but even I was amazed at how low the numbers were for union participation 2 years ago-—it was really low!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.