Governor’s fixes tantamount to tax increase

“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

and the city of Huntington Beach 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.

At Golden West 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.

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

School officials were relieved this week to learn that the

governor’s proposed $30.3 billion in school funding meant that

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

programs would lose funding, it was heartening to learn that for the

most part, elementary education would not feel the brunt of the

budget knife this year.

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.