Thread: L.A. County will sue state if it takes local monies

L.A. County will sue state if it takes local monies

The Associated Press
11:59 a.m. July 21, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County supervisors have voted to sue the state if California lawmakers pass a budget plan that would withhold more than $420 million in local funding.

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on Tuesday to authorize a lawsuit if the Legislature approves a budget plan that "illegally" borrows local redevelopment and gas tax money.

Lawmakers and the governor announced a tentative agreement late Monday that would plug a $26 billion budget gap. Borrowing local tax funds is part of the proposed solution.

Los Angeles County could lose $109 million in gas taxes and more than $313 million in redevelopment funding next year if the deal is approved.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=135729

L.A. County will sue state if it takes local monies

The Associated Press
11:59 a.m. July 21, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County supervisors have voted to sue the state if California lawmakers pass a budget plan that would withhold more than $420 million in local funding.

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on Tuesday to authorize a lawsuit if the Legislature approves a budget plan that "illegally" borrows local redevelopment and gas tax money.

Lawmakers and the governor announced a tentative agreement late Monday that would plug a $26 billion budget gap. Borrowing local tax funds is part of the proposed solution.

Los Angeles County could lose $109 million in gas taxes and more than $313 million in redevelopment funding next year if the deal is approved.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=135729

I guess the county is getting cranky about not being able to provide smooth streets and rebuilding properties for their precious illegals. And like a lawsuit won't cost the county any money, as the county attorney is going to need help in this filing.

I guess the county is getting cranky about not being able to provide smooth streets and rebuilding properties for their precious illegals. And like a lawsuit won't cost the county any money, as the county attorney is going to need help in this filing.

Originally Posted by vortex

I guess the county is getting cranky about not being able to provide smooth streets and rebuilding properties for their precious illegals. And like a lawsuit won't cost the county any money, as the county attorney is going to need help in this filing.

The L.A. County District Attorney's Office has 2,256 employees so they might be able to handle it on their own.

The District Attorney of Los Angeles County is the lawyer for the people, a non-partisan official who is elected every four years. The District Attorney’s Office prosecutes felony crimes throughout Los Angeles County. Deputy district attorneys also prosecute misdemeanor crimes in unincorporated areas and in 78 of the 88 County cities. The staff of approximately 2,256 includes 1,056 deputy district attorneys, 312 investigators, and 888 support personnel, comprising the largest local prosecutorial agency in the nation.

Originally Posted by vortex

I guess the county is getting cranky about not being able to provide smooth streets and rebuilding properties for their precious illegals. And like a lawsuit won't cost the county any money, as the county attorney is going to need help in this filing.

The L.A. County District Attorney's Office has 2,256 employees so they might be able to handle it on their own.

The District Attorney of Los Angeles County is the lawyer for the people, a non-partisan official who is elected every four years. The District Attorney’s Office prosecutes felony crimes throughout Los Angeles County. Deputy district attorneys also prosecute misdemeanor crimes in unincorporated areas and in 78 of the 88 County cities. The staff of approximately 2,256 includes 1,056 deputy district attorneys, 312 investigators, and 888 support personnel, comprising the largest local prosecutorial agency in the nation.

There is already talk that San Diego County and the City of San Diego will join this lawsuit.

I don't know how many more cities and counties might join in to get their share of the money.

There is already talk that San Diego County and the City of San Diego will join this lawsuit.

I don't know how many more cities and counties might join in to get their share of the money.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Cities say they'll sue if plan to raid local coffers goes forward

OC city leaders say the state's plan to take local gas tax, redevelopment money is illegal.

By MARTIN WISCKOL
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – The California League of Cities is preparing a lawsuit to block the proposed state budget if it is approved by the Legislature, which is set to vote on the deal tomorrow.

The proposal to resolve the state's $26 billion shortfall includes taking an estimated $5 billion from city and county governments. The league's attorneys say the state's taking of $1.6 billion of cities' gas tax money and $1.3 billion of redevelopment funds is illegal, officials said Wednesday during a press conference in Santa Ana.

City council members complained that they had already made deep cuts because of declining sales tax, property tax and vehicle license fee revenues. Giving money to the state to solve its record shortfall would mean even fewer police on the beat, fewer firefighters on trucks, and less road maintenance, among other things, officials said.

"These are cuts that hit everyday Californians on services they use the most," Laguna Hills Councilman Allan Songstad at the media event, held in a public plaza outside the League's offices.

The proposed budget cuts would draw most heavily from education, which accounts for about half of the state budget and would absorb about two-thirds of the cuts. There have also been vociferous complaints about proposed cuts to state prisons – particularly if that means releasing prisoners early – and cuts to health and welfare programs.

"We're not advocating that somebody else should get hit," said Lake Forest Councilman Peter Herzog. "But the state's known it's had a problem for a long time, and now they're stepping over to illegality."

Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said less pain for the cities would necessarily mean more cuts to other key programs – or tax hikes.

"During this economic crisis, everyone must share the sacrifice and cut back," McLear said. "The alternative would be higher taxes or deeper cuts to educations, prisons, or health care."

The state's proposal to take redevelopment money is similar to a more modest effort last year, which was blocked by the Sacramento Superior Court. League officials say the latest proposal would be similarly blocked.

The cities' gas-tax money, approved by voters, is also legally immune from state use, League officials say.

State officials counter that there is no such immunity for the local gas tax, and that the language allocating redevelopment money to the state circumvents last year's legal problems.

City officials at Wednesday's press conference repeatedly complained that the state has long ignored the need to be more fiscally responsible, and as a result wants to raid city coffers.

"When you're balancing the budget by taking from us instead of making the cuts that are needed, that's not responsible," said Laguna Niguel Mayor Robert Ming.

Ming called on property taxes to be used almost exclusively by local governments, and call for an end to the secret "backroom deals" without public input that the governor and top four legislators use to draw up proposed budgets.

He also wants an end to state mandates that weren't specifically funded; while Herzog called on voters to oust lawmakers who voted for the proposed budget.

After the press conference, county Supervisor John Moorlach offered another approach: Put the state into a receivership like the one that helped rescue New York City from its financial crisis in 1975.

"If 121 people (the governor and legislators) can't run the state, we'll set up a panel that can," he said.

Contact the writer: 714-285-2867 or mwisckol@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stat ... 2-tax-city

480 cities and 58 counties in California.

If they all sue the state this could go on for years.