"Tax officials reported Tuesday that total statewide property values fell by 2.4% in the latest fiscal year, the first such drop since California began keeping records 76 years ago in the depths of the Great Depression," the LAT's Lifsher and Olivarez-Giles report.
"As of June 30, the assessed value of all taxable property in California
was $4.448 trillion, down $107.2 billion from a year earlier. The loss
means less money and more misery for already strapped
state, local and
school district treasuries.
"Essential public health and safety programs are facing
more budget cuts
and personnel layoffs, while schools probably will
pack more children
into each classroom, tax collectors warn.
"It's pretty astounding. This is something we haven't been through
before," said Howard Roth, the chief economist at the state Department
of Finance. "This will hurt and have a lagging effect on revenues" that
could last years.
"Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who carried aloft the torch of a Massachusetts dynasty and a liberal ideology to the citadel of Senate power, but whose personal and political failings may have prevented him from realizing the ultimate prize of the presidency, died at his home in Hyannis Port last night after a battle with brain cancer," the Boston Globe reports. "He was 77."
In a statement late last night, Gov. Schwarzenegger mourned the passing of "Uncle Teddy."
“Teddy taught us all that public service isn't a hobby or even an occupation, but a way of life and his legacy will live on.”
Meanwhile, the governor is ready to play host to a big, online garage sale .
Michael Rothfeld reports, "His plans to cut up the state's credit cards didn't go so well, and
voters gave the thumbs-down to his bid to shackle government spending.
No matter. In his latest effort to balance the budget,
the governor is
cleaning out the state's storage sheds and holding a garage sale on
Craigslist and EBay.
"Need a 2001 Ford Focus wagon with 110,059
miles and Schwarzenegger's autograph on the visor? Someone did,
offering the high bid of $1,625.01 for the old state car as of Tuesday
afternoon. The governor got the idea to sign the visors
from one of
nearly 1 million people who follow him on Twitter, and he jumped
on it.
"I look forward to selling these signed cars and making some $ for California," the governor tweeted last week as he autographed the visors."
Timm Herdt reports California lawmakers are ignoring federal judges.
"As California lawmakers dither in deciding whether to reduce the number of inmates in California’s overcrowded prisons, most seem to have embraced a cavalier nonchalance about a federal court order hanging over them.
"Those who oppose such proposals as allowing the early, monitored release of inmates in the final months of their sentences have displayed over the last couple weeks a surreal sense of denial, coupled with overblown optimism that, if push eventually comes to shove, the U.S. Supreme Court will side with California’s dysfunctional state government.
But the fact is that, on Aug. 4, a special three-judge panel ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population from nearly 200 percent of design capacity to 137.5 percent.
Andrew Macintosh reports tax collectors say the governor's mandatory furloughs are hurting their ability to collect cash.
The state's two largest tax agencies won't collect an estimated $350 million in revenue over the next year because furloughs and budget cuts have harmed their ability to audit returns and collect money owed by taxpayers, top state officials said Tuesday.
"That admission, made by Franchise Tax Board and Board of Equalization executives at a Senate hearing, left a Democratic senator angrily questioning whether the Schwarzenegger administration's plan to furlough state workers a third day each month is cost-effective.
"I don't believe the third furlough day is creating the savings (the Department of) Finance has said. Their projections are not credible," said Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, who chaired the morning hearing.
Finance Department official Chris Hill defended his department's numbers, touting an estimated $1.3 billion in savings from the three-day-a-month furlough program.
Does Gavin Newsom have some good advice for President Obama on health care? The Chron's Heather Knight reports, "Ninety-four percent of participants in San Francisco's unique universal health care program are at least somewhat satisfied with it, and 92 percent would recommend it to a friend and think other cities should create similar programs. Four in 10 participants said their care was considerably better since joining the program.
"Those are the findings of a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Menlo Park-based nonprofit that analyzes health issues. It surveyed a random sample of 1,026 participants in Healthy San Francisco over several weeks in March on a range of topics related to their medical care.
"For a new program, I think the data generally suggests that it's gotten off on the right foot," said Mollyann Brodie, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research for the foundation.
Sure, our test scores may be down , but at least California schools are getting good grades from the Sierra Club .
The LAT's Amy Littlefield reports, "With about two-thirds of applicants reportedly taking
eco-friendliness into account when choosing a college,
three California
schools that were among the Sierra Club's top 20 have something to brag
about. The report, released Thursday, ranked UC Santa
Cruz, UC Berkeley
and UCLA seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
Santa Cruz
received a perfect 10 for its transportation system, which includes
bike shuttles that transport up to 300 commuters and their bikes to
campus each day. Many of the cyclists are former drivers
who just
needed a little help up the hill, according to Larry
Pageler, director
of transportation and parking services at UC Santa
Cruz.