Polls constantly indicate voters believe California is on the wrong track. Here are a few recent items that indicate the state is not merely on the wrong track; it is running off the rails …
BYOP—Bring Your Own Pen
I served a day on jury duty last week. In the telephone recording preparing prospective jurors for their service, jurors were advised because of the state budget crisis we had to bring our own black-ink pen to the courthouse. The government could no longer provide pens to fill out forms.
Unhappy Californians
California ranks lower than its sister states in a number of categories and here’s another one: Happiness. According to a poll by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Golden State ranks 46th among the fifty states and the District of Columbia. A number of criteria lead to the conclusion by the economists who did the study including commuting issues, availability of public land, local taxes and quality of life issues. Ironically, the top states in the survey were in the sunshine belt, but California, known for its great weather, fell way down the list. At least we topped New York, which finished last. Read about the study in USA Today.
Secret Plan
Speaking of availability of public land, I received a post card last week, co-signed by the president of the California State Parks Foundation and the Executive Director of Save the Redwoods League, asking if I would sign up to be “part of the bold new plan” to save the state parks. The card said an initiative has been filed to provide a permanent funding source for the parks. However, the text fails to mention what that funding source is. Do you suppose they did not want to mention the words “tax” or “fee?” The proposal is more ballot box budgeting—raising a tax on vehicle registration and declaring precisely how the funds will be spent. In turn for the tax, anyone with a California license plate can access state parks for free. The proposed yearly tax is $18, higher than the $15 tax discussed in a similar legislative proposal during the past legislative session. Reading the postcard, the uninformed will not be aware of the nature of the tax. But you can learn all about it. Read the initiative proposal here.
Bad Idea, Bad Timing
Since we’re talking about taxes – how do politicians square their push for new taxes on commercial property with the realities of the market place? One of the leaders of the effort to split the property tax roll and require higher taxes from business property is San Francisco Assessor Phil Ting. Ting wrote in an op-ed piece: “But tough times offer the best opportunity for change. A grassroots movement around a split roll system is building rapidly. Split roll would rework Prop. 13 to literally split the property tax rolls – assigning unique tax levels to corporations and homeowners and leveling the property tax playing field.”
In reality, tough times mean the proposed tax change will only make things tougher. The San Francisco Chronicle reports commercial real estate in Ting’s hometown is about to tumble into the Bay. The article said the mortgage meltdown that hit residential property is just around the corner for commercial property.
According to the article: “Fears of a commercial real estate mortgage meltdown are bolstered by persistent unemployment, which has led to office and retail vacancies, rising commercial loan default rates and hundreds of bank failures – including two in the Bay Area in recent months.”
The article points out: “San Francisco offers a bleak local snapshot: Office vacancy rates were at 14 percent in the third quarter, up from 10.5 percent in the third quarter of 2008, and rents dropped from approximately $42 per square foot annually to $32 per square foot in that same period.”
Just what commercial real estate needs—higher taxes. That ought to close the San Francisco businesses that are barely hanging on.
Britney Spears for Director of Finance
Last week, a poll asked who Californians would trust with their family budget, Britney Spears or the California legislature. The legislature gained an unconvincing victory, 35% to 31%. Too bad the position of Director of Finance has been filled, recently. Ms. Spears could have been given a chance to fix up California’s fiscal mess. By this time next year we could be looking back at 2009 as the good old days. Then someone might start a new campaign—Britney Spears for Governor.