I will be very surprised (shocked, actually!) if any counties or the state of CA have been putting away any of the extra tax revenue they’ve been receiving over the last few years.
I work with a lot of cities and my impression is that a lot of them DO NOT save their excess revenues for a rainy day. There are a few exceptions. I think San Marcos and Poway run pretty tight ships. Talk with some of the San Marcos city staff and they’ll tell you that their city manager is tighter than a drum. Most other cities, however, still seem to carry the spend now attitude. This is performed at the middle manager level, but it is enabled by upper management. Basically they must spend all of the funds in their budget or they might lose it the following year. Some more business-minded cities, I think, provide incentives for staff to accomplish their annual goals under budget. Maybe there are some city personnel out there that can provide more evidence of this?
The Voice has a story today about overspending by the City of Chula Vista: high promised pension benefits, a new convention center at the bayfront, and a possible stadium, financed by record revenues received from their development last year. Scott Lewis cautions in the article that they will be in trouble, just as the City of San Diego, over promised pension benefits, and that the building boom revenue stream won’t last.
I was told Arnold listens to Thornberg and his UCLA Forecast. The Forecast warns about lower state revenue next year, decreasing for a few years. I heard Arnold on a media soundbite saying that “these temporary increased funds will be spent on temporary programs only; we will not make a permanent burden on the state with temporary increased revenue” (paraphrased).
Poway runs a tight ship; they were one of the only cities with money during the last recession.
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