Comment at City Hall on the 2004-05 state budget was restrained
this week, with some relief and some wariness over the future. A
bipartisan majority of state Senators approved the budget on
Thursday, 28-11.
Comment at City Hall on the 2004-05 state budget was restrained this week, with some relief and some wariness over the future. A bipartisan majority of state Senators approved the budget on Thursday, 28-11.
School district officials are waiting for details on the final decision. The new fiscal year started July 1.
The Assembly approved the budget on Wednesday. The governor is expected to sign the budget on Saturday.
Councilman Larry Carr said the $105 billion budget won’t change much.
“It won’t change anything with the State of California,” Carr said. “There are no structural or fundamental changes; it just mortgages our futures. This is not the way the governor ran for election.”
Former Gov. Gray Davis was recalled largely because the state continued to spend more than it took in after the economy’s dive.
Gov. Arnold Schwarz-enegger ran on a platform that would reform the way government was financed, saying the end of credit card financing had arrived. But Carr said Schwarzenegger’s budget is not much better than Davis’.
While neither side was really pleased with the budget, it was done without raising taxes – which pleased Republicans – and without the previously threatened draconian cuts to higher education and health services – which pleased Democrats.
The budget tackles a significant deficit estimated in January at $17 billion by using a combination of borrowing, one-time solutions and spending cuts. But lawmakers said the deal is only the first step.
“It took us five years to get into this financial mess and it’s going to take us year to get out of it,” said Sen. Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz, who represents Morgan Hill.
In the City of Morgan Hill’s finance department, Finance Director Jack Dilles said the state budget won’t change numbers in the city budget either. The total city budget is close to $84 million and the general fund, which pays for police and fire protection, recreation services and some administration costs, is $17 million.
City Manager Ed Tewes agreed with Dilles but cast doubt on the future stability of redevelopment funds which pay for infrastructure (streets) and capital improvements – Aquatics and Community Centers, libraries and recreation centers.
“We are disappointed that there will be no protection of RDA funds,” Tewes said.
In fact, he said, the governor’s finance experts are looking hungrily at redevelopment agency funds that normally go to cities. Dilles said even loss of some RDA funds would not be too bad in the long run.
“It would just mean we would get the money later rather than sooner,” Dilles said. “I’m happy it’s not worse for the general fund.”
Voters approved RDA 2 in 1999, allowing the city to collect an additional $147 million through 2014 for designated purposes. If the state claims some RDA revenue as it is paid from property taxes, the city will still get $147 million – eventually, though the delay may stall some hoped-for projects.
The effect of Sacramento’s actions on Morgan Hill School District budget was unknown Thursday. Bonnie Tognazzini, deputy superintendent for Business Services, said she wouldn’t know until she met with the state Department of School Services in Sacramento. A date for the meeting has not been set.
The California Teachers Association said sacrifices have been made, but commends passage of the state budget that will allow school districts to finalize local budgets as many students have already started classes and millions more return in the fall.
“Students, teachers and schools will certainly feel pain in this budget, but I congratulate the governor and the Legislature for compromising and passing a state budget that provides cost of living and student growth increases for all K-12 schools and community colleges,” said Barbara E. Kerr, president of the 335,000-member CTA.
The new budget increases overall K-14 education spending by more than $2 billion from current levels. It includes full funding of class size reduction, special education and programs that support the schools of greatest need. It restores $200 million to community colleges and money to allow more than 6,000 students to attend UC and CSU schools. The budget protects the integrity of Proposition 98 and guarantees that any money owed to our schools under the minimum-funding provisions will be restored.
But Kerr also warned that the barrage of cuts to public education cannot continue. With the passage of this budget, California K-12 classrooms have lost more than $9.4 billion in cuts and funding deferrals in the past four years.
