State budget needs permanent resolve,
not quick fix
State leaders are fixated on a temporary fix when they need
permanent, sweeping solutions to balance the budget.
The governor and legislators have continued their
self-indulgent, financial free fall by pursuing the suspension of
Prop. 1A, which would allow the state to borrow 8 percent of
property tax revenue from local governments throughout
California.
State budget needs permanent resolve,
not quick fix
State leaders are fixated on a temporary fix when they need permanent, sweeping solutions to balance the budget.
The governor and legislators have continued their self-indulgent, financial free fall by pursuing the suspension of Prop. 1A, which would allow the state to borrow 8 percent of property tax revenue from local governments throughout California.
For San Benito County, it could mean a “loan” of up to $1.6 million. Hollister could be forced to lend around $400,000 in the state’s effort to close its deficit.
We don’t buy the approach or the commitment to pay back the money, and taxpayers shouldn’t have to, either, because voters clearly signaled in the May election they want change in a much bigger fashion by nixxing five propositions intended to place more of a burden on citizens paying the bills. People want to see creativity and cutting, and borrowing more money from local governments doesn’t show originality or prudence.
It shows the opposite. It shows they still answer to the special interests and unions first, that the democratic, collective voice of voters comes second.
Hollister officials have attempted to make a statement against the potential move by approving a resolution opposing it. That, unfortunately, is about the only recourse municipal leaders and citizens have against the state’s temporary approach.
At least they say it’s temporary. As City Manager Clint Quilter pointed out in last week’s edition of The Pinnacle, if the state continues running deficits in the coming years, its leaders will find a way to avoid payback to local governments.
Temporary or not, payback or no payback, state bureaucrats and legislators clearly need a reminder that the money for the loan comes from the same people who just sent the message to cut the California budget, to stop raising taxes.
It’s the same people who are tired of the temporary fix, which almost always turns into a bigger problem down the road.
Structural financial changes are necessary. The same old solution just won’t work anymore, and we wish the leadership run amok in Sacramento would get the picture.
