HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06162009 - D.1RECOMMENDATION(S):
ADOPT Resolution No. 2009/295 urging the California Legislature and Governor to reject
proposals that would shift billions of dollars of local revenue from counties.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This resolution addresses the more than $8 billion in cuts, cost shifts, and deferrals to
California Counties proposed by the Governor to address the state's FY 2009-10 fiscal
crisis.
BACKGROUND:
The Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee has been meeting for over a week to
consider a range of disastrous cost-savings proposals to close the state’s $24 billion+ budget
shortfall. (See the attachment outlining more than $8 billion in hits to counties.) It is
anticipated that the Conference Committee will begin making specific reductions as early as
Friday, June 5.
Here is the scenario counties are facing given the current economic crisis and the series of
devastating cost-savings proposals now before the Legislature. CSAC has crafted this story
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY
ADMINISTRATOR
RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD
COMMITTEE
Action of Board On: 06/16/2009 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
AYE:John Gioia, District I
Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III
Supervisor
Susan A. Bonilla, District
IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District
V Supervisor
Contact: L. DeLaney, 5-1097
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes
of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: June 16, 2009
David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By: June McHuen, Deputy
cc:
D. 1
To:Board of Supervisors
From:Legislation Committee
Date:June 16, 2009
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:Resolution urging the California Legislature and Governor to reject proposals that would shift billions of
dollars of local revenue from counties
to help frame the impossible circumstances in which counties find themselves:
Imagine that you are a county. Your boss, the state, comes to you and says: “We are in a
real fiscal bind. We know it will be painful, but we have to take the following actions to
help our situation.”
• First, we are not able to pay your salary for some undefined period of time (3 to 6 months,
maybe longer) – CASH DEFERRALS
• Next, we need to freeze your savings and checking account and seize your assets –
PROPOSITION 1A SUSPENSION
• And finally, you can still go about your business, but we have decided you may visit
grocery stores and gas stations one day a month (and by the way, hours are limited to
midnight to 2 a.m. on the first Monday of the month) – SERVICE
REDUCTION/ELIMINATION
However, we expect you to keep showing up every day for work and providing for your
family.
BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)
BUDGET TALKING POINTS – JUNE 3, 2009
To protect county resources and programs, the Legislature must hear from its county
elected leaders on a number of priority budget items. CSAC urges all counties to contact
members of their legislative delegation TODAY to articulate the following points:
• Suspension of Proposition 1A would do nothing to resolve the state’s budget problem
and would have a direct and dramatic impact on local governments.
• Counties cannot accept permanent ongoing cuts (i.e. direct cuts, cost shifts or
elimination), such as the permanent take of nearly $500 million in gas taxes. These cuts
will devastate local communities and the citizens we jointly serve.
• The Legislature must ensure that budget reductions to counties are proportional and
rational.
• Budget solutions must be constructed and applied in a proportional manner, taking into
account impact of all proposals — property tax shift, payment deferrals, and program
reductions.
• The Legislature and Administration must acknowledge that certain proposals producing
state savings also create county costs of a nearly equivalent magnitude (wobbler
proposal; elimination of state prison rehabilitative programs; elimination of CalWORKs).
These types of “solutions” only push a problem off onto county governments and are
unacceptable.
• Counties will accept no new mandates or program responsibilities that impose local
costs (i.e. legislative or regulatory) without a statewide, dedicated, reliable and adequate
funding source. Any such realignment should include maximum county flexibility in
service provision.
Finally, please find attached a resolution adopted by the CSAC Board of Directors
opposing the Proposition 1A suspension that has been modified to reflect adoption by the
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. CSAC has requested that we place this
resolution on your agenda as soon as possible to broadly communicate the message that
counties are unable to withstand the magnitude of cost shifts, cuts, and deferrals as
proposed.
The Legislation Committee of the Board reviewed this matter at its June 10 meeting and
recommended approval by the Board of Supervisors.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution No. 2009/295
County Impacts