County, public safety officials plan ballot measure to secure funding
By Kevin Yamamura The Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 3A
Copyright 2011 The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Counties and law enforcement groups plan to file their own initiative this month to ensure the state continues paying them billions of dollars annually for assuming duties such as housing inmates.
The proposal outlined by local leaders would not include tax increases despite a desire by Gov. Jerry Brown and school groups to raise revenue to pay for that public safety work.
Local officials say they will continue working with Brown, lawmakers and educators, but they want to file their own proposal as a backup plan in case the Legislature fails to put a constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot.
"We'd rather have this worked out where we don't have to go through the arduous process of having to qualify for the ballot, but that requires us to put stock in the Legislature coming up with something," said Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan, who serves as first vice president of the California State Association of Counties. "We have to have a backup plan."
Counties and Democratic leaders are skeptical they will secure the GOP support necessary to place a constitutional protection on the ballot. Republicans opposed the "realignment" plan that Brown and Democrats enacted this year to shift various correctional and social service functions to counties.
Republicans suggest counties are ill-equipped to handle offenders previously destined for state prison or parole. Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, said he would not support a realignment funding guarantee unless the plan is redesigned, with more emphasis on building prison space and transferring inmates out of state.
Brown recently emphasized he supports a funding guarantee for counties. But when asked whether that measure should contain his tax hikes, he hadn't decided.
Counties and public safety officials say they are willing to ask the electorate for more money. But they don't want their funding dependent on whether voters approve taxes, particularly if polling on taxes is dicey.
They fear that after accepting responsibility for several billion dollars' worth in services, the state will stop funding those programs. The state is paying local governments this year through a 1.06-cent state sales tax shift that school groups believe should not be permanent without additional tax revenues.
But CSAC Executive Director Paul McIntosh said the new initiative would place that sales tax, along with vehicle taxes also going to realignment, in the constitution.
School boards, administrators and large districts sued the state last month over $2 billion in education funding they say they are being shortchanged due to the realignment tax shift.
Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said he thinks the protection for local government should be tied to new taxes. "I think to be honest with the voters, that would be a much better approach," he said.
The proposal outlined by local leaders would not include tax increases despite a desire by Gov. Jerry Brown and school groups to raise revenue to pay for that public safety work.
Local officials say they will continue working with Brown, lawmakers and educators, but they want to file their own proposal as a backup plan in case the Legislature fails to put a constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot.
"We'd rather have this worked out where we don't have to go through the arduous process of having to qualify for the ballot, but that requires us to put stock in the Legislature coming up with something," said Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan, who serves as first vice president of the California State Association of Counties. "We have to have a backup plan."
Counties and Democratic leaders are skeptical they will secure the GOP support necessary to place a constitutional protection on the ballot. Republicans opposed the "realignment" plan that Brown and Democrats enacted this year to shift various correctional and social service functions to counties.
Republicans suggest counties are ill-equipped to handle offenders previously destined for state prison or parole. Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, said he would not support a realignment funding guarantee unless the plan is redesigned, with more emphasis on building prison space and transferring inmates out of state.
Brown recently emphasized he supports a funding guarantee for counties. But when asked whether that measure should contain his tax hikes, he hadn't decided.
Counties and public safety officials say they are willing to ask the electorate for more money. But they don't want their funding dependent on whether voters approve taxes, particularly if polling on taxes is dicey.
They fear that after accepting responsibility for several billion dollars' worth in services, the state will stop funding those programs. The state is paying local governments this year through a 1.06-cent state sales tax shift that school groups believe should not be permanent without additional tax revenues.
But CSAC Executive Director Paul McIntosh said the new initiative would place that sales tax, along with vehicle taxes also going to realignment, in the constitution.
School boards, administrators and large districts sued the state last month over $2 billion in education funding they say they are being shortchanged due to the realignment tax shift.
Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said he thinks the protection for local government should be tied to new taxes. "I think to be honest with the voters, that would be a much better approach," he said.
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