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Facing the worst deficit
in California’s history, Gray Davis is trying to solve his budget
woes by dumping his financial problems on local government. With
such a monumental task ahead of him, Davis is grabbing for what
appears to be the easiest answers. He is proposing an easy grab of
discretionary revenue used for critical local government services.
The consequences of this dire action will reach farther into the
future than even the effects of the energy crisis. Local cities and
counties will be unable to bear the burden and all of California’s
residents will pay the price.
The Governor and the state legislature dwindled a $12 billion
surplus into a $34 billion deficit by over spending in good times.
Now the Governor’s plan is simple: Raise taxes, re-align the fastest
growing state run programs to counties while providing minimal
funding, and eliminate 40% of the discretionary funding Counties use
to provide critical services.
How can Davis assure us that his re-aligned programs will remain
fully funded while at the same time he strips away the very source
of vital local revenue promised to us in 1998 by the Vehicle
Licensing Fee (VLF) backfill? The VLF backfill is the primary source
of revenue counties use to deliver programs such as sheriffs, jails,
emergency rooms, public health, district attorneys and child
protective services. It is also the money that is required by law to
be used to provide the necessary matching funds for many state and
federal social and human service programs. Eliminating the VLF
backfill will erase $191 million from the current budget year, which
is more than half completed, and leave a loss of $472 million
annually- nearly 40% of flexible revenues. Los Angeles County stands
to lose $663 million dollars over the next 18 months under the Davis
plan.
After breaking the VLF promise, Davis expects California’s counties
to take on an additional $8.2 billion in program responsibilities
without an assurance that there will be an ongoing, stable and
increasing funding source to meet the increasing caseload demands.
The re-aligned programs are among the fastest growing in the state.
For example, Los Angeles County currently pays for 22% of the In
Home Supportive Services program (IHSS), whose costs are growing by
14% per year. Davis wants to transfer the entire cost of the IHSS
program over to counties without any pledge of increased funding.
The County will simply not have the money to pay for the continuing
growth and will be forced to cut other vital programs to pay for yet
another unfunded state mandate. The Davis budget has also neglected
to provide any money for trauma care. This year Los Angeles County
received 20 million in state funds. Next year: zero.
The Governor plans to continue to administer, mandate, and expand
these programs, while leaving counties to find a way to implement
and pay for them. Local government should not be forced to bear the
brunt of this burden. We cannot consider any additional re-alignment
of responsibility for state programs until there are guarantees from
the state that adequate funding will be provided. We also cannot
tolerate the elimination of the VLF backfill that was promised to us
by the state legislature and remains so critical to local services.
Without these assurances, local cities and counties will be forced
to cut vital programs causing the quality of life in our communities
to suffer greatly for years to come.
Supervisor Don Knabe
County of Los Angeles, Fourth District
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