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Alameda County District 5 Supervisor Keith Carson
Paid for by the Friends of Keith Carson, FPPC ID #890744 |
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One hand rose tentatively when California State Controller John Chiang asked a packed conference room of local officials, government employees, and community leaders if there was anyone planning on purchasing a car in the near future. The response Chiang got to his question has been similar all over California. Revenue from car sales tax makes up approximately 9.5% of the State’s budget and is just one of the many revenue areas where California is hurting.
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Chiang was invited to speak about the current status of the State’s ability to meet its payment obligations during the Alameda County Budget Workgroup on January 22, 2010. According the Chiang, if the Legislature and Governor don’t address the current year’s cash problem the State will not have enough to pay its bills.
“It is vital that community members and leaders in Alameda County understand the State’s budget crisis in order to plan appropriately and effectively in our communities and organizations,” said Supervisor Keith Carson, Chair of the Alameda County Budget Workgroup. “When the State delays payments that means our community based organizations will not receive the funding they need to keep services operating and their doors open.”
On March 30th the State will fall below the $2.5 billion cash cushion by $1.3 billion. On April 1st the State will be in the red by $197 million, and resources to pay bills are not expected to return to safe levels until late April. Chiang stated that $2.7 billion in cash solutions are necessary to avoid a cash shortage in the current fiscal year.
Failure by the State Legislature and Governor to pass the budget on time for Fiscal Year 2010-11 will cause the State to be in the red over $1 billion. By September the state will be $5 billion in the red. The State Legislature needs to act immediately to solve cash problems before the State Treasury is depleted or the historic events of last year’s issuance of registered warrants (IOUs) will be repeated.
Changing the two-thirds majority vote requirement, eliminating term limits to increase institutional memory among elected representatives, and making the State’s collection agency more efficient were a few solutions Chiang identified that could help solve the enormous budget problems of California. Chiang stressed that one-year gimmicks should not be an option and there is no one solution, but that there needs to be a lot of small solutions pieced together to make a large impact. Short term fixes will not solve the deep budget problems of California. |
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State Controller John Chiang Visits Alameda County January 22, 2010 |
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The final year of office for Governor Schwarzenegger may also be the end for many of California’s services and programs. The Governor’s budget proposal attempts to close a projected $19.9 billion deficit and calls for dramatic reductions and possible elimination of programs for working families, foster youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and immigrants.
Schwarzenegger says that if the Federal government does not make good on their promise of $8 billion in reimbursements and other aid due to California he will (once again) place CalWORKs, Foster Youth Transitional Housing, the Healthy Families Initiative, Adult Day Health Care Benefits, In-Home Support Services, and others on the permanent chopping block. The Governor wants to have the State Legislature pre-approve the program reductions meaning if the full amount of Federal funds does not materialize programs will be eliminated. The fates of these State programs are teetering on the edge of an abyss.
The “pre-approval” Schwarzenegger is requesting from the State Legislature will ensure that he gets his way because it is not realistic to expect the full $8 billion from the Federal government.
In Alameda County there are 20,000 CalWORKs cases, 2,000 foster youth, and 16,000 IHSS clients that will be directly impacted by the elimination of these programs. Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, Chair of the County Budget Workgroup, said that “residents that are currently receiving support from the State will turn to the County for their basic needs. With the State raiding local government coffers and revenue from property and sales taxes at an all time low the County will not have the resources to meet the growing need.”
Part of the Governor’s cost cutting strategies includes brining measures before the voters in June 2010 to shift $1 billion from Prop 10 (Early Childhood Development) funds and Prop 63 (Mental Health Services Act) funds. Both of the measures were placed on the May 2009 ballot and were defeated by the voters.
However the budget battle plays out this year the Legislature will have to make the difficult choices about expenditures and revenues. A counter proposal to the Governor’s budget should consist of a targeted approach to cuts as opposed to the complete elimination of programs. A targeted approach will give the Legislature flexibility to cut spending, but retain services for the most vulnerable recipients.
Residents and organizations are speaking out by participating in the Terminator Tour. Communities need to remind the Governor and State Legislature about the ill effects that cuts to vital services and programs have on our lives. You can hear their stories and contribute your own at www.TerminatorTourCA.org. |
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The Terminator is at it Again January 15, 2010 |
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Dark Clouds Still Ahead for Alameda County
March 1, 2010
As the sun struggles to peak through the string of storms over the past few weeks Alameda County forecasts that the worst is yet to come, but County leaders are not talking about the weather. Alameda County will not be bathing in the sun even though some economists signal the recession is over.
“The worst is yet to come,” says Supervisor Keith Carson, Chair of the Alameda County Budget Workgroup. “Since balancing the largest deficit in County history last fiscal year ($178 million), we have continued to see revenues decline and property values drop which directly impacts how the County is able to provide services.”
The public economic forum in Oakland on February 25, 2010 at the Elihu Harris State Building was part of a series of forums that gave residents, community-based organization, service providers, and labor representatives the most up-to-date information about the state of the County and how the State and Federal budgets are expected in impact local government and community services.
The unemployment rate, which is at 10.9% for Alameda County, leaves approximately 87,000 residents without jobs. The growing number of unemployed individuals in Alameda County means more people are relying on public services. With the NUMMI closure looming the County is expecting to lose up to 20,000 more jobs in the coming months.
“People are losing health benefits that were once provided by their employer and now turn to the County for their health needs,” Supervisor Carson said. “With revenues from Measure A, the half cents sales tax passed by the voters in 2004 to help fund medical services, is down approximately $5 million. County health facilities have more patients with less funding.”
Median home values have gone from $619,000 in 2007 to $360,000 (down 42%). Property taxes represent the largest source for County programs and services. The County Assessment Roll is what determines how much property taxes the County receives and has declined for the first time by 2.2%, representing $4 billion in reductions of property value.
Since the beginning of the recession in 2007, Alameda County has seen sharp increases in caseloads in CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, Food Stamps, and General Assistance programs. Funding for these programs come from property and sales taxes. With all revenues down drastically and expected to continue to decline, programs are seeing more need and less funding.
Governor Schwarzenegger’s threats to eliminate programs in Health and Human Services mean that 15,000 people receiving in-home care will lose daily support and 18,000 providers will lose their job. One thousand CAPI (Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants) recipients and 20,000 families on CalWORKs will lose assistance.
“It’s inconceivable to me that the Governor can just arbitrarily cut without thinking about the people that he is creating hardships for,” said Betty Mulholland, an Oakland senior who requires oxygen 24 hours a day and an in-home care worker to help with her daily needs. Mulholland has already lost portions of her Supplemental Security Income and without funding for her in-home care worker she will not be able to afford to pay a private company to assist her.
Consumer spending will help the economic recovery, but without employment people will not be able to spend and pay taxes to push our economy back to pre-recession levels. Economists from around the State agree that the recovery will be extremely slow. The recovery from the 2001 recession took 45 months to get back to the pre-recession levels and recovering from The Great Recession of 2007 is expected to take much longer to recover.
The focus should indeed be on saving existing jobs and the creation of new jobs. “Government jobs make up 16% of all jobs in the East Bay,” said Supervisor Carson. “Alameda County is committed to examining all possible options in order to maintain a balanced budget and save as many jobs as possible. It is important that local government take a proactive approach in working with the community and prepare for the coming storm. The Worst is yet to come.” |