Alternative solution to state budget crisis

Letters from readers on the state budget, state Assemblyman Luis
Alejo’s purchase of a new vehicle on the taxpayer’s dime and a nod
to the city of Gilroy for keeping the skate park free of charge
A serious and straightforward alternative solution to the state’s budget deficit crisis

Dear Editor, 

Gov. Brown has proposed a plan to close the projected nearly $25 billion budget deficit1 for fiscal year 2011-12 through a combination of spending cuts of $12.5 billion and “temporary” tax increases of $12 billion. There is a more straightforward solution – but it would take intestinal fortitude by Gov. Brown and state legislators to implement. 

Using the government’s numbers, with the temporary taxes already in place for fiscal year 2010-11, there will be a General Fund deficit carryover of $3.4 billion into fiscal year 2011-12.  Without a continuation of the tax increases into fiscal year 2011-12, the General Fund revenues are projected to be $83.5 billion. This would leave $80.1 billion net revenues to meet fiscal year 2011-12 General Fund expenditures. (Ref: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf) 

A review of the history of General Fund expenditures shows that most recently, specifically in fiscal year 2004-05, the actual expenditures were $79.8 billion, i.e., less than the projected net revenues, without continuation of the temporary tax increases, for fiscal year 2011-12. (Ref: http://www.dof.ca.gov/budgeting/budget_faqs/documents/Chart-A1.pdf) 

An alternative solution to the current budget crisis would be to use the fiscal year 2004-05 budget expenditures as a “modified zero-based” budget for fiscal year 2011-12. That is, as a starting point, set each agency and department budget equal to the expenditures that it recorded in the earlier fiscal year. From this starting point, every “necessary” increase in budget must be matched by an equal or greater decrease in budget from some other line item. 

For example, there may well be some of the currently proposed $12.5 billion in spending cuts still left on the table when the affected programs are reset to the fiscal year 2004-05 expenditure levels. These excesses could be applied to the loss of six months revenues in fiscal year 2011-12 from not extending the income tax surcharge, or be applied to the “necessary” budget increases in other line items. But let the legislators and the governor battle out these details. 

I would expect that this “alternative solution” would result in the elimination of much waste, fraud and abuse in the state budget in order to find the funding for any “necessary” budget increases from the fiscal year 2004-05 spending levels. 

Francis Ryan, Morgan Hill

Assemblyman’s car purchase in light of the economy has a local taxpayer’s ‘blood boiling’

Dear Editor,

I just read about a politician

Who was recently elected

And one of his choices

That he has now selected 

It was in the Gilroy Dispatch

In “The Word” from Mark Derry

It made my blood boil

And my heart, rather weary 

A California Congressman

By the name of Luis Alejo

Who wasn’t very happy

With his new payroll 

There just wasn’t enough

That was on his plate

So he went out and bought

A brand new Ford Escape 

The state is deep debt

And jobs are in demand

But Luis let the taxpayer’s

Spend some Thirty-Seven Grand 

How about, the train

Or even, the bus?

So he can commute

Like the rest of us

Tom Engebretson, Gilroy

Appreciates the city’s

no-charge policy for using the skate park at Las Animas

Dear Editor,

I want to thank the city of Gilroy for not making us athletes pay to get into the skate park. In Morgan Hill, we have to pay to get in.  If we pay, we should get a whole week free because we are not old enough to work yet.

Carlos Perez, ASMS (Solorsano) 8th grader