It’s always news to elected officials, but the economy goes up and down — and it’s their job to create sufficient reserves, control government salaries and manage their budgets in a way that assures quality services and reasonable tax rates. To quote former Gov. Jerry Brown as he proposed his final state budget: “What’s out there is darkness, uncertainty, decline and recession. So good luck, baby.” It’s darker than usual these days.
The Newsom administration is wrestling with an $18-billion deficit — a far cry from the $97.5-billion surplus that state officials squandered only four years ago. And local officials, even in supposedly conservative Orange County, should have been paying attention to the economic news. They now expect taxpayers to pay more to paper over their fiscal nonchalance. They are threatening service cuts if voters don’t comply.
In 2024, voters in three OC cities (Buena Park, La Habra and Seal Beach) approved a sale-tax increase. Orange voters said no that election, but the city has since hired consultants who concluded that it could face bankruptcy within three years. So expect that tax-hike idea to come back eventually.
This year, other cities are turning to the tax-hike playbook. Voters in Fullerton rejected a 1.25% sales-tax hike in 2020, but are considering two measures for November: a 0.5% hike for public safety and another 0.5% for roads.
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