By Khalida Sarwari
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced his support Thursday for an initiative on the November ballot that would stop the state from borrowing local government funds to balance its budget.
Reed was among a group of California mayors who participated in a media conference call to discuss their support for Proposition 22, a measure that, if passed, would prohibit the state from borrowing transportation improvement, public safety and local government service funds.
“Prop 22 is the answer,” Reed said.
The proposal would prevent the taking of revenue from hotel taxes, parcel taxes, utility taxes, and sales taxes, which are dedicated to cities, counties, special districts and redevelopment agencies and are used to fund public safety, emergency response, and other local government services.
“They’re taking 13 million (dollars) from San Jose,” Reed said. “We’re trying to provide services day in and day out, and they’re making us give money.”
State and local government funding are interrelated under the state constitution, with both entities sharing sales and fuel tax revenues. The state does not receive property tax revenues, but it is allowed to distribute the revenues among local agencies and public schools.
In 2004, voters approved Proposition 1A, which limited the state to only temporarily borrow or redirect city, county, and special district funds, but did not eliminate the state’s authority to redirect local redevelopment agency revenues.
Opponents, which include teachers, firefighters, nurses and taxpayer advocates, say that the passing of the initiative would protect redevelopment agencies but take away billions of dollars from public schools.
In April, San Jose participated in a statewide effort to submit a combined 1.1 million signatures to county election offices to qualify the measure on the November ballot. Santa Clara County collected 62,000 signatures from voters.