Stanislaus County mayors to the state: Don't pinch us! (Vernon's sister city Modesto takes large Hit. )

By TIM MORAN MODESTO BEE: Aug 6

The mayors of Stanislaus County have a message for state legislators: Keep your hands out of our pockets. Officials from the county's nine cities held a press event Tuesday to urge residents to tell legislators not to borrow or take money from local government to plug the $15.2 billion deficit in the state budget. Legislators are deadlocked on how that deficit should be handled, with Democrats urging tax increases and Republicans favoring spending cuts. On Monday, Gov. Schwarzenegger proposed a temporary three-year sales tax until the budget can be restructured. But most local officials expect the state to borrow property tax revenue from the counties and cities, and take money away from local law enforcement, transportation and parks programs. Under Proposition 1A, the state could borrow $7 million from Stanislaus County's nine cities to cover the red ink in Sacramento. Modesto is considering cutting an additional $8 million to $9 million from its budget even before the state borrows $4 million to $6 million, said Mayor Jim Ridenour. Ceres could fund three police officers or four firefighters with the $400,000 the state may take from its budget, said Mayor Anthony Cannella.

"We cities face the same budget challenges the state does," said Oakdale Mayor Farrell Jackson. "But we don't have anyone to borrow from. We are at the bottom of the revenue stream."Many people in Patterson are losing their homes in the housing crisis, said Mayor Becky Campo. More could be done to help them if the state doesn't borrow $194,540 from the city, she said. "I'm a CPA," said Riverbank Mayor Chris Crifasi. "I don't know of any other business that can pass its deficits down to another entity. Cities are required to balance their budgets." Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden said the city could lose an additional $1.1 million if the state restricts access to the state crime lab and reinstitutes a booking fee the city pays. Stanislaus County's cities have lost $74.5 million in revenue taken away by the state since 1991, Ridenour said. "We've got to get the message to state legislators that they have to do the same hard work we do to balance their budget," he said. "Tell the legislators we are fed up and aren't going to take any more of it."

On the Net:
To find out how much any city in the state has lost, go to www.cutupthecard.com/spending.

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Don Quixote Note: Our sister City Modesto does not have Provincial Downloading. It has State Downloading. Sounds like a lot of money that has been extracted from the City back to the state since 1991. ($38.5 Million).

Contrast that with the so called voluntary Casino tax that extracts over $28.5 million in the 2007 fiscal year alone from the patrons of this establishment of which $20.2 million (71%) leaves Vernon with $15.8 Million going to Victoria. Vernon racks in $1.76 million of the money that stays in Vernon as their 30 pieces of Silver for being the Host Government. The expansion of this Casino will naturally increase these figures in 2009.