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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-25 - AGENDA REPORTS - STATE INITIATIVE PUBLIC SAFETY (2)CONSENT CALENDAR DATE: SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT: Agenda Item: CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: November 25, 2003 ./ -Ad Michael P. Murphy STATE INITIATIVE: THE LOCAL TAXPAYERS AND PUBLIC SAFETY PROTECTION ACT City Manager RECOMMENDED ACTION Support The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act and direct staff to return to the City Council with periodic updates on the status of the initiative qualification process. BACKGROUND For well over a decade, local governments in California have watched the state continuously redirect funds from local governments to balance the state budget. In 1992, when local revenues were redirected to the Education Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF), local governments were assured that when the state's financial fortunes improved, the ERAF shift would be discontinued and funds restored to cities, counties and special districts. In the late 1990s, during the unprecedented economic upswing, local governments made efforts to secure delivery on the earlier promise to restore the funding. Due to term limits, legislators in office at the end of the decade felt no obligation to fulfill promises made years earlier by legislators no longer in office. In 1998, the Legislature, feeling the largess of the state treasury, enacted the Vehicle License Fee reduction program which resulted in the "car tax" being reduced by two-thirds. While politically a hailed move, Vehicle License Fee revenues are a constitutionally guaranteed revenue stream to cities and counties. At the time the original legislation was enacted, the State of California promised to "backfill" any monies lost by local government, thus making them whole. During this entire time period, cities, counties and special districts have wrestled with how to reform the state/local fiscal relationship and create an environment of trust between state and local government. ;P� �f ifJlr !!�� lJ 11 U �li'v IL During the California budget crisis of 2003, several proposals were floated to balance the state budget using traditionally local revenue sources. Furthermore, during his campaign for election as Governor, Arnold Schwarznegger affirmed his desire to repeal the Vehicle License Fee without identifying a source of revenue to make local governments whole. The League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties and Special District Association believe it is time to end the uncertainty associated with local revenue sources and annual local government budget preparation. At the League of California Cities Annual Conference General Assembly held on September 10, 2003, the League's membership voted unanimously to support moving The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act initiative forward for placement on the November 2004 ballot. On October 30, 2003, The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act was filed with the California Attorney General's office. In approximately 45-60 days from the date of submission, the Attorney General will return a title and summary for the initiative. At that time, a signature gathering drive will begin. In order to qualify for the November 2004 ballot, 598,105 California registered voters must sign petitions to place the initiative on the statewide ballot. This initiative is straight forward in that it requires simple majority voter approval before the Legislature can reduce local government revenues or take local revenues for state purposes. It clarifies existing law that if the Legislature mandates local governments to provide new or expanded programs or services, the State of California will reimburse local governments for the costs of meeting those mandates. Should the Legislature fail to provide funding for full reimbursement of the mandates, local governments may continue to provide the mandates and receive reimbursement at a future date or suspend the mandate. The initiative does not raise taxes nor does it provide additional funding for local government. It does not reduce funds for education or in any way take away or redirect state funding. The initiative is designed to provide added security to local governments in terms of their budgeting and financial planning processes. It simply requires that before funds can be taken or redirected by the Legislature, a vote of the electorate must occur to affirm the Legislature's desires or reject the local taking or fund redirection. It may happen that in difficult state budget times, the State of California can make a compelling case to the electorate that a fund taking or redirection is appropriate, allowing the voters to choose between a reduction in certain state provided services or those provided at the local government level. Finally, should the City Council choose to take a formal position on the proposed initiative, the City Council and City staff may only provide educational information regarding the measure. City resources may not be used to promote or oppose the initiative. Members of the City Council and City staff may choose to use their personal time to advocate a particular point of view on a ballot measure but may not do so during City compensated time or while utilizing City resources. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS 1. Oppose The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act. 2. Take no formal position on the proposed ballot measure until such time as it formally qualifies for the November 2004 ballot. 3. Direct staff to monitor the progress of the initiative toward ballot qualification and return to the City Council at a later date with a progress report on qualification status. FISCAL IMPACT Adoption of the recommended action and staff costs associated with the preparation of this agenda item and follow-up reporting of the City Council's official position are already contained within the City's adopted 2003/04 budget, thus not requiring any additional funds. All other activities associated with promotion of the initiative may not be undertaken using public resources, resulting in no additional costs to the City. ATTACHMENTS Copy of the Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act THE LOCAL TAXPAYERS AND PUBLIC SAFETY PROTECTION ACT SECTION ONE. Short Title. These amendments to the California Constitution shall be known and may be cited as the LOCAL TAXPAYERS AND PUBLIC SAFETY PROTECTION ACT. SECTION TWO. Findings and Purposes (a) The People of the State of California find that restoring local control over local tax dollars is vital to insure that local tax dollars are used to provide critical local services including police, fire, emergency and trauma care, public health, libraries, criminal justice, and road and street maintenance. Reliable funding for these services is essential for the security, well-being and quality of life of all Californians. (b) For many years, the Legislature has taken away local tax dollars used by local governments so that the State could control those local tax dollars. In fact, the Legislature has been taking away billions of local tax dollars each year, forcing local governments to either raise local fees or taxes to maintain services, or cut back on critically needed local services. (c) The Legislature's diversion of local tax dollars from local governments harms local governments' ability to provide such specific services as police, fire, emergency and trauma care, public health, libraries, criminal justice, and road and street maintenance. (d) In recognition of the harm caused by diversion of local tax dollars and the importance placed on voter control of major decisions concerning government finance, and consistent with existing provisions of the California Constitution that give the people the right to vote on fiscal changes, the People of the State of California want the right to vote upon actions by the State government that take local tax dollars from local governments. (e) The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act is designed to insure that the People of the State of California shall have the right to approve or reject the actions of state government to take away local revenues that fund vitally needed local services. (f) The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act strengthens the requirement that if the State mandates local governments to implement new or expanded programs, then the State shall reimburse local governments for the cost of those programs. (g) The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act does not amend or modify the School Funding Initiative, Proposition 98 (Article XVI, section 8 of the California Constitution). (h) Therefore, the People declare that the purposes of this Act are to: (1) require voter approval before the Legislature removes local tax dollars from the control of Local Government,as described in this measure; (2) insure that local tax dollars are dedicated to local governments to fund local public services; (3) insure that the Legislature reimburses local governments when the State mandates local governments to assume more financial responsibility for new or existing programs; and (4) prohibit the Legislature from deferring or delaying annual reimbursement to local governments for state -mandated programs. SECTION THREE. Article )GHE is hereby added to the California Constitution to read as follows: ARTICLE XHIE Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act Section 1. State-wide Voter Approval Required (a) Approval by a majority vote of the electorate, as provided for in this section, shall be required before any act of the Legislature takes effect that removes the following funding sources, or portions thereof, from the control of any Local Government as follows: (i) Reduces, or suspends or delays the receipt of, any Local Government's proportionate share of the Local Property Tax when the Legislature exercises its power to apportion the Local Property Tax; or requires any Local Government to remit Local Property Taxes to the State, a state -created fund, or, without the consent of the affected Local Governments, to another Local Government; (ii) Reduces, or delays or suspends the receipt of, the Local Government Base Year Fund to any Local Government, without appropriating funds to offset the reduction, delay or suspension in an equal amount; (iii) Restricts the authority to impose, or changes the method of distributing, the Local Sales Tax; (iv) Reduces, or suspends or delays the receipt of, the 2003 Local Government Payment Deferral; or (v) Fails to reinstate the suspended Bradle)-Burns Uniform Sales Tax Rate in accordance with Section 97.68 of the Revenue and Taxation Code added by Chapter 162 of 2003 Statutes; or reduces any Local Government's allocation of the Property Tax required by Section 97.68 while the Sales Tax Rate is suspended. (b) A vote of the electorate, as provided in this section, shall also be required if an act of the Legislature that establishes classifications or exemptions from the Local Property Tax or the Local Sales Tax does not include a continuous appropriation to reimburse Local Governments for the actual loss of revenue from those classifications or exemptions. (c) Prior to its submission to the electorate, an act subject to voter approval under this section must be approved by the same vote of the Legislature as is required to enact a budget bill and shall not take effect until approved by a majority of those voting on the measure at the next statewide election in accordance with subdivision (d). (d) When an election is required by this section, the Secretary of State shall present the following question to the electorate: "Shall that action taken by the Legislature in [Chapter of the Statutes of _], which affects local revenues, be approved? Section 2. Definitions (a) "Local Govemment" means any city, county, city and county, or special district. (b) "Local Goverment Base Year Fund" means the amount of revenue appropriated in the 2002-2003 fiscal year in accordance with Chapters 1 through 5, commencing with section 10701 of Part 5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code in effect on August 9, 2003, adjusted annually based upon the change in assessed valuation of vehicles that are subject to those provisions of law. In the event that the fees imposed by those provisions of law are repealed, then the Fund shall be adjusted annually on July 1 by an amount equal to the percentage change in per capita personal income and the change in population, as determined pursuant to Article XIIIB. (c) "2003 Local Goverment Payment Deferral" means the amount of revenues required to be transferred to Local Government from the General Fund specified in paragraph D of subdivision 3 of subsection (a) of section 10754 of the Revenue and Taxation Code as it read on August 9, 2003. (d) "Local Property Tax" means any Local Government's January 1, 2003 proportionate share of ad valorem taxes on real property and tangible personal property apportioned pursuant to the Legislature's exercise of its power to apportion property taxes as specified in Article XIIIA, section 1. "Local Property Tax" also means any Local Government's allocation of the ad valorem tax on real property and tangible personal property pursuant to Article XVI, section 16. (e) "Local Sales Tax" means any sales and use tax imposed by any city, county, or city and county pursuant to the Bradley -Burns Uniform Sales and Use Tax (Chapter 1 of Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code) in accordance with the law in effect on January 1, 2003. (f) "Special District" means an agency of the State, formed pursuant to general law or special act, for the local performance of governmental or proprietary functions with limited geographic boundaries, including redevelopment agencies, but not including school districts, community college districts, or county offices of education. (g) "State" means the State of California. Section 3. Interim Measures (a) The operation and effect of any statute enacted between November 1, 2003 and the effective date of this Act, that would have required voter approval pursuant to Section 1 if enacted on or after the effective date of this Act (the "Interim Statute"), shall be suspended on that date and shall have no further force and effect until the date the Interim Statute is approved by the voters at the first statewide election following the effective date of this Act in the manner specified in Section 1. If the Interim Statute is not approved by the voters, it shall have no further force and effect. (b) If the Interim Statute is approved by the voters, it shall nonetheless have no further force and effect during the period of suspension; provided, however, that the statute shall have force and effect during the period of suspension if the Interim Statute or separate act of the Legislature appropriates funds to affected local governments in an amount which is not less than the revenues affected by the Interim Statute. SECTION FOUR. Article XIIIB Section Six (6) is hereby amended as follows: SEC. 6. (a) Whenever the Legislature or any state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, the State shall annually provide a subvention of funds to reimburse such local government for the costs of such program or increased level of service, except that the Legislature may, but need not, provide such subvention of funds for the following mandates: (a) (i) Legislative mandates requested by the local agency affected; (l) (ii) Legislation defining a new crime or changing an existing definition of a crime; or (s} (iii) Legislative mandates enacted prior to January 1, 1975, or executive orders or regulations initially.implementing legislation enacted prior to January 1, 1975. (b) The annual subvention offunds required by this section shall be transmitted to the local government within 180 days of the effective date of the statute or regulation or order by a State officer or agency that mandates a new program or higher level of service, or within 180 days ofa final adjudication that a subvention offunds is required pursuant to this section. For purposes of this section, the Legislature or any State agency or officer mandates a newprogram or higher level ofservice when it creates a new program, requires services not previously required to be provided, increases the frequency or duration of required services, increases the number of persons eligible for services, or transfers to local government complete or partial financial responsibility for a program for which the State previously had complete or partial financial responsibility. (c) If during the focal year in which a claim for reimbursement is filed for a subvention offunds, the Legislature does not appropriate a subvention offunds that provides full reimbursement as required by subdivision (a), or does not appropriate a subvention of funds that provides full reimbursement as part of the state budget act in the fiscal year immediately following the filing of that claim for reimbursement, then a local government may elect one of the following options: (i) Continue to perform the mandate. The local government shall receive reimbursement for its costs to perform the mandate through a subsequent appropriation and subvention offunds; or (it) Suspend performance of the mandate during all or a portion of the fiscal year in which the election permitted by this subdivision is made. The local government may continue to suspend performance of the mandate during all or a portion of subsequent fiscal years until the fiscal year in which the Legislature appropriates the subvention offunds to provide full reimbursement as required by subdivision. (a). A local government shall receive reimbursement for its costs far that portion of the fiscal year during which it performed the mandate through a subsequent appropriation and subvention offends. The terms of this subdivision do not apply, and a local government may not make the election provided for in this subdivision, for a mandate in effect on January 1, 2004 that either requires safe working conditions for local government employees or establishes procedural rights arising from and directly relating to local government employment. (d) For purposes of this section, "mandate" means a statute, or action or order of any state agency, which has been determined by the Legislature, any court, or the Commission on State Mandates or its designated successor, to require reimbursement pursuant to this section. SECTION FIVE. Construction. (a) This measure shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes, including providing adequate funds to Local Government to fund local services such as police, fire, emergency and trauma care, public health, libraries, criminal justice, and road and street maintenance. (b) This measure shall not be construed either to alter the apportionment of the ad valorem tax on real property pursuant to Section 1 of Article X01A by any statute in effect prior to January 1, 2003 or to prevent the Legislature from altering that apportionment in compliance with the terms of this measure. 5 (c) Except as provided in Section 3 of Article XIIIE added by Section Three of this Act, the provisions of Section 1 of Article X ME added by Section Three of this Act apply to all statutes adopted on or after the effective date of this Act. SECTION SIX. If any part of this measure or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that reasonably can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.