City must reduce budget by $700K
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed a package of bills containing several measures to close California’s massive budget deficit of more than $24 billion.
One of the measures will allow the state to borrow 8 percent of local governments’ property taxes, totaling $2.2 billion, which it will have to repay within three years. Consequently, the City of Malibu will lose $700,000 from its 2009-2010 fiscal year budget.
The state Legislature, however, voted against acquiring local governments’ transportation tax, which would have reduced the Malibu’s budget by another $200,000, City Manager Jim Thorsen said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
Thorsen explained that the state’s acquisition of the transportation tax, designated for regional city highway improvements, would have probably resulted in many lawsuits by local governments, which argued the funds would be illegally utilized for unintended purposes.
Though cities are against the state’s 8 percent acquisition of their property taxes, the passing of Proposition 1A makes it legal in emergency situations.
Thorsen said the city’s budget adjustments would be made at its next quarterly meeting in October.
Under the approved state budget plan, education spending will lose $9.3 billion; health and human services spending will drop by $3 billion; and general government spending will fall by $1.7 billion.
A total of $820 million will be saved by state employee’s pay cuts through three furlough days per month; prison funds will drop by $785 million; vetoes will cut a miscellaneous $489 million; $1 billion will be shifted to the state’s general fund from other state accounts; $1.4 million will be preserved by delayed payments of payroll and health premiums; and tax withholding and other changes will raise $3.5 billion.
School district accepting apps for parcel tax committee
At its July 16, meeting, the SMMUSD Board of Education approved the establishment of a Citizens Committee to examine the feasibility of an emergency and temporary parcel tax to offset all or a portion of the budget deficit due to the state budget crisis.
The committee will report to the Board of Education with a recommendation regarding the feasibility of an emergency and temporary parcel tax. It will work with a polling firm to craft questions for community input and with the district’s chief financial officer to delineate the steps necessary to place a parcel tax on a future ballot or special election and retain the necessary counsel for each step of the process.
It is possible that this committee would also later examine the feasibility of a bond measure following recommendations regarding an emergency and temporary parcel tax.
The committee will meet regularly through December 10.
Members of the public who would like to serve on the committee need to complete an application, a link to which can be found in the bottom left-hand corner of the district’s Web site: www.smmusd.org. Completed applications can be emailed to swahrenbrock@smmusd.org, faxed to 310.581.1138, or dropped off at the district office: 1651 16th Street, Santa Monica.
Completed applications must be submitted to the Superintendent’s Office no later than August 11.
Local toy company loses arbitration
Local toy company Jakks Pacific Inc. will be receiving a lower royalty rate than it expected from its World Wrestling Entertainment video games sold through a joint venture with THQ Inc.
Shares of Malibu-based Jakks fell 3.9 percent to $11.86, while those of THQ were down 11 cents at $8.49 Monday afternoon on NASDAQ, according to the Associated Press.
The binding arbitrated decision was the result of a suit filed by THQ earlier this month that disputed Jakks’ decision to extend the joint venture’s video-game license with WWE.
Jakks will receive a 6 percent preferred return payment rate from the video games sold, rather than the 10 percent rate it sought, the company said.
“When THQ sells the game, they get a percentage of the sale – 6 percent means the rough break down of the profit is going to be 30 percent for Jakks and 70 percent for THQ,” Sterne, Agee & Leach analyst Arvind Bhatia told Reuters.
Measure R exemption application deadline Friday
Applications for a senior exemption from the Measure R parcel tax are now being accepted and must be submitted by this Friday. Residents who turned 65 years old or older on June 30, and own and occupy their properties as their primary residences, may apply for the 2009-10 Senior Exemption.
In May, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District mailed forms to all those who previously qualified for the exemption.
First-time applicants may request an exemption application from the school district offices or download a form at http://www.smmusd.org/fiscal/senior_exempt.html, where additional details about the exemption can also be found.