April 16th is the deadline for valid petition signatures, she added.The effort is meeting with statewide voter approval if the more than 550,000 petition signatures already gathered are any indication.The initiative would ensure that local tax dollars go to fund public safety services as well as parks, emergency healthcare, transportation and libraries, areas hit hard by state money grabbing.The initiative would also require the Legislature to get voter approval before it took money away from local government and would require the state to reimbursement local governments for the coasts associated with any new or expanded state-mandated programs.If the measure isn’t passed it could cost Ventura County over $93 million this year.Santa Paula would also be hit with a sizable cash shortfall that would impact services and personnel, a source of ongoing City Council discussion.For more information online, go to www.protectlocalservices.com
Santa Paula City Council, staff gathering signatures to stop state money grabbing
March 31, 2004
Santa Paula City Council
Members of the Santa Paula City Council and staff have been kept busy doing their part for an initiative that would stop the state from grabbing more funds from local coffers.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesMembers of the Santa Paula City Council and staff have been kept busy doing their part for an initiative that would stop the state from grabbing more funds from local coffers.The Californians to Protect Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act is being targeted for the November ballot, according to City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz, and the issue is so important that volunteers have been encouraging petition signatures at a card table set-up outside Vons market.It was about 12 years ago that the state started taking sizeable chunks out of local property taxes through the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund. The loss to Ventura County, its 10 cities and special districts alone since 1992 is now more than $883 million.Although the initiative will need close to 600,000 valid signatures from registered voters, “we’re been assigned to get 300,” noted Bobkiewicz.Also taking part in the effort have been Santa Paula police and firefighters who are volunteering their off-duty time in the signature gathering effort.“People have been very cordial, very friendly,” said Vice Mayor Mary Ann Krause, who has done signature-gathering duty twice on recent Saturdays.
