Among the cuts suffered by local governments was the redirection of vehicle license fees from newly incorporated cities.
Until recently, a portion of the VLF money was assigned to newly incorporated cities to help subsidize their existence until their municipal structure was self-sufficient. But as part of the gut-and-amend process, these new cities lost the funds that account for a large portion of their budget. In the case of the newest city in the state, Jurupa Valley, the $6.5 million they lost decimated the city’s $14.5 million total budget.
Now, Jurupa Valley and two other new cities are trying to find a way to continue to exist without the subsidy. In the case of Jurupa Valley, their existence is at stake, and there is a very real chance that they could fold.
From the Associated Press:
California’s newest city could be broke in a year because the state has taken away nearly half its budget.
Jurupa Valley in Riverside County lost $6.5 million out of a $14.6 million budget when the state Legislature voted last year to take state vehicle license fee money that used to go to new cities.
“Our survival is at stake,” Mayor Laura Roughton told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/Ob9G5C). “We have to get the money restored.”
Read the full article here.