It’s a “Wait And See” On The State’s New Budget For Municipalities

Sonora, CA — It’s pretty much a "wait and see" attitude on the part of Sonora City Administrator Greg Applegate when it comes to the state’s new budget.

Applegate comments until the outcome of the May 19 election on several budget ballot measures is known cities will basically remain in a state of flux.

At the current time, "The state is holding on to its revenues in an effort to pay their bills." Applegate adds, "We’ll have to wait for details to emerge to have a clearer picture on the associated impacts on our budget."

"Our two major concerns now deal with our redevelopment agencies where the state reached in and grabbed a per centage of our assessed values. That was a shot across the bow. Our other major concern is protecting our existing base of revenue and at the same time being able to make our own payments."

Applegate remarked, "This is the first time in my career that the state budget will be based on ballot initiatives. This is kind of frightening because it puts the public in a hostage negotiation position because if these ballot measures are not approved the state will be back trying to raise revenue or cut expenses and we know what a mess that has been causing such a logjam for the past couple of months."

As for the exact verbage of the May 19 initiatives, Applegate commented, "We’re still waiting on that."

Written by bill.johnson@mlode.com