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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10211986 - X.3 X. 3 t TO . BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: Supervisor Tom Torlakson Contra Costa DATE: October 21, 1986 County SUBJECT: CSAC FISCAL RELIEF STRATEGY FOR 1987 � ��••�� SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION .� RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Send to CAO for review. . 2. Consider adoption before the CSAC Annual Conference November 18, 1986 . BACKGROUND: I attended the CSAC Resolutions Committee meeting on behalf of the Board on Friday, October 3 , and discussed with other supervisors from across the state the CSAC Fiscal Relief Strategy for 1987. I support the strategy outlined and urge the Board to adopt same before the CSAC Annual Conference next month. TT:cad CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT; YES SIGNATURE. RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON nctober 21 . 1986 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X__ OTHER X IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that this matter is' REQUESTED placed on the November 4 , 1986 agenda on the determination calendar . VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS ATRUE X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT II ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON .THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. cc: County Administrator ATTESTED October 21 , 1986 __— PHIL BATCHELOR. CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY ► 38217-83 _.DEPUTY County Supervisors IMMEDIATE ATTENTION October 1, 1986 TO: All Supervisors County Administrative Officers FROM: Larry E. Naake, Executive Director /T SUBJECT: CSAC 1986-87 FISCAL CRISIS REPORT CSAC FISCAL RELIEF STRATEGY FOR 1987 Undated Fiscal Crisis Report Last year, CSAC issued a report which documented a growing fiscal crisis in California county government. The study found that one-half of the state's 58 counties were in serious financial trouble and faced drastic program cuts and employee lay-offs. The report received statewide media coverage over an extended period of time and was intended to educate responsible state officials, as well as the public, on the difficulties counties are experiencing in providing minimum levels of service with limited revenues. The message got across and we believe we convinced top officials in both the State Administration and the Legislature of our fiscal plight. However, the results in terms of fiscal relief have not been satisfactory at all. In an effort to continue this educational process, we have again surveyed counties throughout California concerning their fiscal situation for 1986-87. We have also been developing, in conjunction with the County Administrators Association and the CSAC Executive Committee, a fiscal relief proposal and strategy for 1987. This proposal and strategy are outlined later in this memo. The results of this survey are summarized in the attachment and explained fully in the enclosed report. However, it is clear that the results of this survey are the same as they were last year -- counties are still facing major fiscal problems. The results showed that: -- smaller rural counties remain those hardest hit by increased state- mandated program costs, but all counties, rural, suburban and urban, are experiencing increased pressures on their ability to fund state required programs. caseload driven, state-mandated programs such as welfare, jails, and courts, remain the prime reason for the fiscal crisis. Increases in the county costs of these programs during the last five years has far outstretched the ability of local discretionary revenues to fund them. CSAC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:President,LESLIE K.BROWN,Kings County a First Vice President,CAL McELWAIN,San Bernardino County a Second Vice President, BARBARA SHIPNUCK,Monterey County o Immediate Past President,STEPHEN C.SWENDIMAN,Shasta County a MICHAEL D.ANTONOVICH,Los Angeles County o KAY CENICEROS,Riverside County a FRED F.COOPER,Alameda County a JERRY DIEFENDERFER,San Luis Obispo County a ROBERT E.DORR,EI Dorado County ROLLAND STARN,Stanlalalla County o HILDA WHEELER,Butte County o LEON W ILLIAMS,San Diego County a JOE WILLIAMS,Glenn County a SUSANNE WILSON, Santa Clare County o ADVISORS: County Administrative Officer, Robert E. Hendrix, Humboldt County a County Counsel, James Lindholm, Jr., Sen Luis Obispo County o Executive Director,LARRY E.NAAKE Sacramento Office / 1100 K Street, #101 / Sacramento, CA 95814-3941 / 916/441.4011 ATSS 473-3727 Washington Office / 440 First St., N.W., Suite 503 / Washington, D.C. 20001 / 202-783-7575 October 1, 1986 Page two -- "real" discretionary programs continue to represent a small part of the county budget -- a mere 4.5°x6 of an average county's total budget. -- County reserves for emergencies and contingencies are still less than 1% of their budgets, well below the 3.7% that the Governor and Legislature have deemed prudent for economic uncertainties. Please review the enclosed report and use it when dealing with the public and the media in your county. 1987 Fiscal Relief Proposal and Strategy It is clear that this trend cannot continue! The wildfire growth in state-mandated, caseload driven programs is forcing county government away from providing its traditional services in such areas as law enforcement, fire protection, road maintenance, libraries, parks and recreation, probation, mental health, and other community services. We must reverse this trend! To halt this erosion of bread and butter county services, the Association has been working with the County Administrative Officers Association of California and the CSAC Executive Committee in developing a proposal to redistribute current state revenues to fiscally distressed county programs. This process began with a meeting in early July of the county administrative officers and has continued through last Friday when the CSAC Executive Committee endorsed the components of the proposal and a strategy for its implementation. Subcommittees of county administrative officers, CSAC staff, and county lobbyists are continuing to work on the details of this proposal. The proposal has four basic components: 1. Funding the Courts. The first component is the implementation of AB 19 (Robinson) of 1984, which calls for major state assistance in financing superior, municipal, and justice courts. The proposal would call for large grant blocks to counties based on the number of judges within their jurisdiction and would propose certain streamlining and cost cutting savings in the court system. The total assistance to counties would be in the range of $275 to $325 million and would free up county general funds for use in other important county program areas. The state indicated its support for this concept when both the Assembly and Senate passed AB 19 and the Governor signed the bill in 1984. We intend to press the Administration to make this one of its major proposals for 1987 and seek legislative implementations. 2. Revenue Shift. The second component would be a shift of 1/4 cent of the existing state sales tax to the counties. Although we are still October 1, 1986 Page three running the figures on this proposal, both the CAOs and the CSAC Executive Committee have tentatively endorsed a formula that would distribute these funds on the basis of both situs and population. This shift would produce approximately $550 to $600 million in new revenues to California counties. We believe this proposal is possible because the State of California will be exceeding its Gann appropriation limit by about $850 million to $1 billion in 1987. They will, therefore, be forced to reduce their appropriations by that amount. This is one viable alternative since the counties as a whole are $850 million under their Gann limit. We believe that readjusting current statewide revenues to counties is a viable solution to the state's Gann limit problem. 3. Distressed Counties. The third component of the proposal would provide for a pot of $32 to $50 million on an ongoing basis to counties that qualify as "distressed." A subcommittee is now. working on developing criteria to define "distressed counties." All counties, regardless of size, would qualify for assistance if they met the criteria that is being developed. 4. Potential County Fiscal Initiative. The final component of the proposal is the development of a potential county fiscal initiative for the 1988 ballot if the county fiscal crisis continues and if the State Administration and Legislature do not respond to our proposals. This potential initiative will be developed by the CAOs and brought to the CSAC Executive Committee and Board of Directors sometime during the next three to six months. Please review the concepts of these proposals and discuss them with Your colleagues between now and the CSAC Annual Meeting which takes place November 18-21, in Los Angeles County. We will also make this information available at the various CSAC regional meetings that will be taking place during October. Strategy for Achieving Proposals We plan to kickoff our campaign for county fiscal relief at the CSAC Annual Meeting in November. With respect to the specifics of the proposal, we will have more definitive information for discussion by the CSAC policy committees, discussion at the CSAC General Business Session, and action by the Board of Directors at their November 21 meeting. We hope to have excellent press coverage at the annual meeting so that both the fiscal plight of counties and our proposed solution receive wide coverage in the media. Following the annual meeting, we will begin our statewide campaign to gain support for our proposal. This will include statewide media coverage, media tours by our officers, direct contacts with legislators, local meetings between county officials and their legislators, and ongoing negotiations with both the Legislature and the Administration with respect to our proposals. We will also be building coalitions with other groups and seeking their support. October 1, 1986 Page four Conclusion Again, we hope you will thoroughly review and discuss both the fiscal crisis report and the fiscal relief proposal and strategy with your colleagues and be prepared to become immersed in achieving our goals during 1987. We hope that you will agree with us that this should be the maior legislative effort of CSAC and California counties during the next two years. It will take a united, strong, and sustained effort to insure success. LEN:sgm Attachment