Brian Pew
Grace Son
Nat Gale
Regina Muge Wang
Yao Xu
Professor John Nicoll
Ventura County Executive Officer
California State Budget History
SB 90
Limited local government authority to raise property taxes.
Requires the state to reimburse local governments for new state-mandated programs.
Proposition 13
Set property tax rate at 1 percent,
cutting local government property
taxes by over half. Transferred control
over property tax allocation to state.
Established acquisition-based
assessment system. Requires new
local special taxes to be approved by
two-thirds of voters.
SB 154
Used state’s budget
surplus to provide a
one year “bailout” for
local governments.
AB 8
Established ongoing
“bailout” for local
governments. State
assumed many county
health and welfare costs,
and increased school aid.
Developed permanent
property tax allocation
system. Included a
“deflator” to reduce state
costs if revenues were
insufficient.
Proposition 4
Generally limits local and
state spending of tax
proceeds to prior-year
amount, adjusted for
population and inflation
(later amended to per
capita personal income
growth). Requires state to
reimburse local entities for
mandated costs.
General Law City Taxing Authority
Gave general law cities
the same taxing authority
as charter cities.
State Budgets, 1981-84
Despite low state revenues, state did not activate AB 8 deflator.
Instead, state permanently repealed three local subventions:
liquor license fee, highway carrier’s uniform business tax, and
financial aid to local agencies.
Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act
Created program
to assist communities
financing infrastructure.
New special taxes subject to
two-thirds voter approval.
State Budget 1984-1985
Permanently repealed
AB 8 deflator and local
government personal
property tax subvention.
Proposition 47
Constitutionally
guaranteed VLF
revenues for cities
and counties. (Guarantee
later limited to revenues
raised under a 0.65
percent VLF rate.)
Brown-Presley Trial Court Funding Act
Increased state funding for
county-operated trial
courts, through the
establishment of block grants.
SB 2557
Allowed counties to charge local
entities to recover the costs of
booking persons into county jails
and administering the property
tax. (Authority to charge schools
for tax administration eliminated
in 1991.)
Realignment
Major shift of authority from state to counties for
mental health and other programs. Funding changes
intended to be fiscally neutral and included: new
sales and VLF taxes and changed state/county cost
sharing ratios.
Education Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) 1992-93 and 1993-94
Annually shifts about one-sixth of statewide
property taxes from cities, counties, and special
districts to schools. Reduces state education costs
by an equal amount. (Additional $1.3 billion
property tax shift in 2004-05 and 2005-06.)
Community Redevelopment Law Reform Act
Narrowed the definition of blight, set time
limits for redevelopment projects, and
required mitigation payments.
Proposition 172
Established a state
half-cent sales tax for
support of local public
safety.
Proposition 218
Constrained local authority to raise revenues
from taxes, assessments, and fees. Some revenue
raising methods subject to increased approval
requirements.
Welfare Reform
Provided counties with more
flexibility regarding (1) delivery of
welfare-to-work services and
(2) receipient participation
requirements.
Trial Court Funding
Cap placed on county
trial court spending,
resulting in future increases in
state funding.
State Budgets 1999 - 2004
Reduced VLF rate and backfilled local
losses with state subventions. Beginning
2004, state subventions replaced with
property taxes.
Proposition 57
Pledged one-quarter cent of the
Bradley-Burns sales tax as
repayment for a state
deficit-financing bond (the “triple
flip”). Local losses replaced with
property taxes shifted from
schools. School losses offset by
increased state aid.
Proposition 1A
Major reduction to
Legislature’s authority over
the property tax and
Bradley-Burns sales tax.
Expanded state’s requirement
to pay for mandates.
Proposition 63
Imposed additional 1% tax on
personal income above $1
million to expand county
mental health programs.
SB 81
Shifted funding and
responsibility for nonviolent
juvenile offenders from the
state to counties.
State Budget 2009 - 2010
Shifted redevelopment
revenues and borrowed local
property taxes to reduce state
costs by almost $4 billion.
Gas Tax Swap
Increased state’s fiscal
flexibility by replacing state’s
sales tax on gaoline with an
excise tax. Reduces ongoing
funding for local transit.