Budget and FinanceState owes counties $22 million in taxes, refuses to payTuesday, April 16th, 2013 April 16, 2013 By Dave Roberts If you decide not to pay your taxes, you could face stiff penalties, seizure of your property and jail time. But when California’s government is the tax deadbeat, state officials thumb their noses at the tax man. The California Department of Fish and Wildlif... How bullet-train fiasco maintains support, momentumMonday, April 15th, 2013 April 15, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi It may be unpleasant to contemplate, but opposing California’s high-speed rail project with a green-eyeshade strategy that targets its estimated huge annual losses seems likely to be a loser. Project opponents may need to find another approach, given how such... CA fire chiefs warn state fire tax will hurt, not helpFriday, April 12th, 2013 April 12, 2013 By Dave Roberts The $89 million annual fire prevention fee imposed on rural Californians for the first time last year could, ironically, increase the chance that their houses will burn down in the event of a fire. The $135-$150 per home annual assessment, which critics believe i... CA comeback mostly about shifting funds aroundWednesday, April 10th, 2013 April 10, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times an article, “Lessons from a Comeback.” However, a comeback for state government should not be confused with an economic or jobs recovery. A number of liberal, conservative and moderate writers responded to Krug... Judge: Stockton can go belly upTuesday, April 2nd, 2013April 2, 2013 By John Seiler It’s official: The city of Stockton is bankrupt. On April 1, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein ruled that Stockton's bankruptcy can proceed. "It's apparent to me the city would not be able to perform its obligations to its citizens on fundamental public saf... Pensions at heart of bankruptcyMonday, April 1st, 2013April 1, 2013 By Steven Greenhut SACRAMENTO -- Few nonlocal people typically pay much attention to the goings-on in Stockton, a hard-pressed Gold Rush-era industrial city of about 300,000 that sits in the agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley, at the eastern edge of the California Delta. But ... Redevelopment 2.0 keeps flaws of the old redevelopmentFriday, March 29th, 2013This is Part Two of a two-part series. Part One is here. March 29, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi Los Angeles-based redevelopment expert Larry Kosmont is marketing his Redevelopment 2.0 idea as a way to compete with other states that currently are out-competing California for industries. As Kosm... Redevelopment 2.0 won’t rejuvenate ‘old factory belts’Thursday, March 28th, 2013 This is Part One of a two-part series. Part Two is here. March 28, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi Redevelopment 1.0 died statewide in 2011 when Gov. Jerry Brown phased it out, mainly because it was robbing local school districts of needed property tax revenues. Now Los Angeles-based redevelopmen... It’s alive: Anti-tax cut bill returnsThursday, March 28th, 2013March 28, 2013 By Dave Roberts It's alive. Similar to a bill narrowly defeated last year, SCA 6 is by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord. Taxpayer advocates fear the bill could make it difficult, perhaps impossible, to cut or limit taxes through the initiative process. But SCA 6's wording ... Attack of the artificial crisesMonday, March 25th, 2013 March 25, 2013 By Steven Greenhut SACRAMENTO --- Not many of my friends or neighbors are sitting on pins and needles, worrying that the world as we know it will end as the federal government "slashes" spending as part of the automatic sequester cuts mandated by a previous budget bill. And ... |