State Budget Will Take $17 Million from Glendale -
“This Is A Disaster for Local Government”
Glendale City Manager Jim Starbird began his council meeting report tonight with the quote above, disparaged an LA Times photo of state leaders smiling as they announced an agreement forcing local governments to hand over billions of dollars, and concluded by urging listeners to contact state representatives and lobby against the proposed budget.
“We have heard over the past few months that the state wants to ‘partner with local governments’ and what that means is the state reaching down, during the worst of times, to cities and counties and schools and taking resources away from us,” said Starbird, who emphasized that the last time the state did this in a big way, when Prop 13 was first passed, funds were never returned to local governments.
Under the budget plan Glendale would have to send $9.2 million in Redevelopment Agency reserves to the state in May 2010, and an additional $2.3 million in 2011. “That’s 50 percent of our reserves for already identified projects.”
Counting up redevelopment funds, gasoline taxes, and other takeaways, Starbird estimated that the current state plan would take $17 million from the city of Glendale up to May 2011, with no guarantees that state revenues will stabilize and thus a distinct possibility that the state could reach for even more. “Sacramento has become a big black hole.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe spoke along the same lines in his July 20 youtube video seen here at PublicCEO.com, urging county residents to protest to their state representatives.
Why can’t our state legislators “live within their means”?
Why can’t they adopt a budget that doesn’t require more money than the state has to spend?
Readers: contact your state legislators and ask them these questions. Urge them to scrap a budget that borrows funds from municipalities and come up with a reasonable budget that doesn’t cripple local governments.
I think it shocking that after ousting Grey Davis for no particular infraction that ‘the Arnold’ is taking this stance against a slight sales tax hike to avoid raising taxes and removing so many programmes and welfare and school money. Shameful!