fresnoBee.com: Metro: Small special districts fear state raid on their funds
"Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed 2004-05 budget calls for taking away millions of dollars in property tax revenues paid to cities, counties and special districts. The money will help the state pay for public education at the kindergarten through high school level...Special districts, which are forms of local government created by a community to meet specific service needs, could face devastating losses if the governor's proposed budget is passed, said Catherine Smith, executive director of the California Special Districts Association. The budget proposal calls for special districts statewide to lose between $100 and $110 million or about 25% of their revenues."


Fred Pilot passed this link along. All levels of state and local government California are feeling the pinch, and next to the bottom rung are the special districts, with low visibility and no clear constituencies to object to measures like this. Special districts, such as mosquito abatement districts, will be hit harder than municipalities because of their lack of political clout. The bottom rung of the intergovernmental ladder is, of course, HOAs. They just get told what to do and have to raise private revenues to do it. They don't even get help from the tax collector, unlike business improvement districts (which don't have to threaten foreclosure to collect because government collects for them).