City and County Leaders Warn of Dire Consequences If Vehicle License Fee Cut; Opinion Research Shows Voters Think VLF is Wrong Tax to Cut.SACRAMENTO, Calif. and LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1998--Local officials rallied in both Northern and Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, today in opposition to the proposed Vehicle License Fee (VLF (Very Low Frequency) See low radiation. ) cut. Local governments, still hurting from local property tax shifts to augment the state's budget deficits, are strongly urging the Legislature to preserve the VLF that provides much needed revenue for local services. "The fiscal stability of cities and counties is in jeopardy," said Ron Bates Bates , Katherine Lee 1859-1929. American educator and writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful," written in 1893 and revised in 1904 and 1911. , Mayor of Los Alamitos Los Alamitos (lôs ăləmē`təs, lŏs), city (1990 pop. 11,676), Orange co., NE of Long Beach, S Calif., in a suburban area; inc. 1960. Los Alamitos Racetrack and U.S. military installations are nearby. and President of League of California Cities. "Many cities and counties are barely hanging on. Now lawmakers want to take even more." If the VLF revenues are taken away, local governments would lose their third largest source of general purpose tax revenues -- not to mention their most stable and reliable revenue stream. Potentially impacted are law enforcement, jails, fire protection, road maintenance and repair, libraries, parks, after-school youth programs, child abuse protection, and essential health and human services Noun 1. Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Department of Health and Human Services, HHS . "Revenues generated from this fee have always been allocated to cities and counties," said Bates. "If legislators want to provide taxpayer relief, they should do it with state revenue and not at the expense of already-strapped local communities." Californians to Protect Our Local Communities, a broad statewide coalition of local government, business and labor organizations fighting to keep local communities from getting short-changed in the annual state budget tug-of-war, recently commissioned a top opinion research firm to ask voters in this state what they think about issues related to the VLF. This research indicated that approximately 60 percent of voters in California feel it is a bad idea to use a one-time surplus for the state to give people a permanent tax cut. Once understanding VLF and its benefits, 69 percent of voters think VLF is the wrong tax to cut. Now that the state has a budget surplus, 72 percent of voters think the state should use the surplus to pay back to local governments the money that they took away about five years ago. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), implementation of Governor Wilson's plan to cut the VLF would drive state government into the red, creating a budget deficit of more than $1 billion. If lost VLF revenues are not replaced with constitutionally guaranteed "backfill back·fill n. Material used to refill an excavated area. tr.v. back·filled, back·fill·ing, back·fills To refill (an excavated area) with such material. " state general funds, local taxpayers would end up paying the price either through reduced local services or through increased local assessment, such as special utility or sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. . "If we lose VLF as it's currently structured, we will be forced to fight other state-funded institutions and programs for revenue," said Bates. "It is ironic that after our local revenues helped create California's budget surplus, we are unable to get any of it back." Californians to Protect Our Local Communities is supported by League of California Cities, L.A. County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, League of Women Voters League of Women Voters, voluntary public service organization of U.S. citizens. Organized in 1920 in Chicago as an outgrowth of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, it had as its original nucleus the leaders of the latter organization. of California, California Children's Lobby, Peace Officers Research Association of California, California Professional Firefighters, California State Firefighters' Association, Service Employees International Union and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the second- or third-largest labor union in the United States and one of the fastest-growing, representing over 1. .
CONTACT: Californians to Protect Our Local Communities
Julie Marengo, 916/658-8200
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