State solution is headache for Laguna Beach

The vision of an aggressive hatchet-wielding dominator is not what

most of us pictured when contemplating what the new governor had in

mind for the state’s budget.

But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was true to his movie image as he

unveiled his fix for the state’s financial woes.

Last week, Laguna leaders 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 Jan. 9, the governor proposed his $99.1-billion budget, which

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. In

a related move, state park fees will go from $5 a day to $12 a day

and from $67 to $125 for annual passes.

Of course, as Laguna gets most of its money from property taxes,

well, you can imagine the size of City Manager Ken Frank’s headache.

The shift of $1.3 billion from local governments statewide, will

leave Laguna city officials with tough decisions to make about which

positions to fill and possibly even which positions to cut.

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

Laguna Beach school officials were relieved to learn that

basic-aid districts would not suffer because of the changes.

While some special programs will lose funding, it is heartening to

learn that for the most part, elementary education will 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 cities will lose

important personnel and 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.