County News
Feb 21, 2012 4:01pm
It would appear that many initiatives will be vying for the attention of voters this November as the governor has not been able to swat away rival tax plans so that his initiative will have more prominence in the upcoming election. The fear is that if voters are asked multiple times to take a hit to their wallets, then they’ll just be more inclined to say no to everything, no matter how skillfully the initiative language is worded. However, getting less attention is the impact that competing tax initiatives could have on local measures. Local governments could face a steeper uphill climb to...
Feb 21, 2012 3:25pm
Will 2012 be the year that the U.S. economy solidly improves its footing or do healthy government budgets still look dicey for the year ahead? The 2012 Keating Report has now been released, and it includes analysis of federal, state, and local government budgets and spending, as well as an in-depth look at public private partnerships and government construction. Forecasts indicate that government purchases of goods and services will reach $2.99 trillion, which falls a little below levels in 2011. Of those purchases, state and local government purchases will reach $1.77 trillion and in 2013,...
Feb 21, 2012 3:07pm
A new report from Stanford University has examined the 24 largest independent pension systems in California and has found that local public pensions (outside of CalPERS) are facing $135.7 billion in long-term obligations. These numbers are based on an assumed rate of investment return of 5 percent. The following counties were covered in the research: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Ventura. For non-CalPERS pension systems, it was found that the average funded ratio is...
Feb 21, 2012 2:25pm
Although the termination of Mendocino County’s novel pot permitting program will result in the loss of sizeable revenue for the local Sheriff’s Department, the issue of whether or not the county should work with the industry in such a manner has divided law enforcement officials in the department. The county was forced to shut down its permitting program due to strong legal pressure from the federal government and many have commented that the county ultimately faced the consequences for pushing the envelope. The county has now issued a watered down version of the permit ordinance. The revised...
Feb 21, 2012 12:58pm
New state data shows that an additional 10 counties have expanded medical coverage to uninsured, low-income residents. Health officials at the local level have been busy preparing for changes that will be implemented under the federal health reform law in 2014 and it is hoped that enrolling new patients now will ease the transition process and ensure that qualified candidates are connected to the county system now. Once the federal health reform law is in effect in 2014, millions of more Californians will be eligible for Medi-Cal.The Times notes that “Ten counties, including Los Angeles,...
Feb 21, 2012 12:28pm
As is the case in counties throughout the state in recent years, pension reform has taken center stage as a contentious issue that has put taxpayer groups on the offensive and county officials in defensive positioning. Take Ventura County, as the Ventura County Taxpayers Association has been reinvigorated mission-wise in the past few years by persistently hounding the Board of Supervisors on reforms and seeking the names of retired pensioners. Ventura has an independent pension program and officials have called it conservative with reasonable benefits. Despite fierce criticism from the...
Feb 21, 2012 11:25am
The complicated process of unwinding redevelopment is covered in a new report released by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Due to scope of redevelopment agencies’ funds, assets, and financial obligations, the LAO concludes that dissolution will “take time” and that the Legislature should “amend the redevelopment dissolution legislation to address timing issues, clarify the treatment of pass–through payments, and address key concerns of redevelopment bond investors.” Here are the report’s major findings, none of which are all that supportive of the work and economic benefits that...
Feb 21, 2012 11:19am
We relayed recently that the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors is seeking state legislation that would amend the Ralph M. Brown Act so that the board could be exempt from the requirements of the law when it comes to executive sessions, i.e. meetings with the governor or president. LA Supervisors are being sued by the nonprofit watchdog organization Californians Aware for violating the Brown Act when a closed meeting was held with Gov. Jerry Brown last fall. In an update, a video of Supervisor Michael Antonovich has been circulating that shows the official urging the passage of state...
Feb 14, 2012 4:36pm
As part of its environmental review and licensing process, the California Energy Commission recently sought guidance from the Building Trades Council about solar construction jobs created by the application of a company named BrightSource Energy. The response of John Spaulding — executive secretary of the Building & Construction Trades Council for Kern, Inyo and Mono Counties — reveals the vital benefits that such development can provide local communities if project contractors utilize Project Labor Agreements.
In a letter to the CEC, Spaulding notes that under a PLA, all the construction...
Feb 14, 2012 4:17pm
The S&P (Standard & Poor's) announced this week that the state of California’s financial outlook has improved, as the state has officially shifted from “stable” to “positive.” This means that a credit-rating upgrade could occur if pragmatic fiscal solutions are enacted. California currently has one of the lowest credit ratings of any state. An analyst from the ratings agency noted that the positive outlook was in part due to the fact the state “corrected a significant portion of its budget imbalance.”An analyst also stated, “We are going on a limb here and saying that there’s at least...
