Schwarzenegger’s fixes tantamount to a tax hike

“I’m your worst nightmare.”

That’s not exactly the movie line that many were hoping to hear

from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week as he unveiled his fix for

the state’s financial woes.

But his Rambo-esque attack on local governments, college students

and state park visitors make that statement even more apropos today.

This week alone, the leadership of Coast Community College District,

UCI and the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa learned there

would be a mixture of deep cuts and fee hikes proposed to their

already razor-thin coffers as part of the governor’s plan to erase

the state’s $15 billion deficit.

On Friday, the governor proposed his $99.1 billion budget that

included $30.3 billion for public education and $8.7 billion for

higher education.

The bad news is that the governor’s plan will shift some $1.3

billion in property taxes from local governments to the state to help

pay for school funding, and he plans to oversee UC system tuition

increases of 10% for undergraduates and 40% for graduate students.

At Orange Coast College, students could see fees go from an

already hiked $18 a unit to $26 a unit. It was only a year ago that

the price of a course was $11 a unit, meaning the cost of a community

college education could more than double.

For state park visitors, the hikes mean instead of paying $5 to

visit the beach, it could cost $12 per day. For those who hold annual

passes, the price jumps from $67 to $125.

As for the shift in $1.3 billion from local governments statewide,

city officials have been down this road before in the early 1990s,

when the state government took money out of civic budgets to give to

schools with the promise that it would be returned later. That date

never came. “This is just robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Newport

Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway. Ridgeway said the cuts to local governments

could translate to $2.4 million for Newport’s budget alone, which may

have an effect on new hiring for public safety personnel. The

governor’s budget is not all bad news, however.

Newport-Mesa school officials were relieved this week to learn

that the governor’s proposed $30.3 billion in school funding means

spending per pupil will increase by $216 a year. While some special

programs will lose funding, it his heartening to learn that for the

most part elementary education will not feel the brunt of the budget

knife this year.

Gov. Schwarzenegger was elected to be a reformer, to provide new

and creative ideas to solve the state’s budget woes. So far, this

budget doesn’t seem to offer anything new. While not imposing taxes

on income, businesses, or property, it does mean college students and

state park visitors are going to see their costs go up.

It might not be called a tax for them, but it sure is going to

feel like one. We just hope the pain they are going to feel is worth

it.