San Pablo's funding gamble pays off - ContraCostaTimes.com: "SAN PABLO — They're raising fees in Walnut Creek, sapping reserves in Antioch and San Leandro, slashing jobs in Oakland, Hayward and San Mateo, shaving mental health services in Berkeley and mulling rolling 'brownouts' at fire stations in Alameda. The mounting loss of sales and property tax revenues has forced painful choices upon cities and counties across the East Bay. Yet one city barely feels the pinch. In San Pablo, home to some of the East Bay's poorest households and highest unemployment, City Hall sits high-and-dry amid a raging fiscal storm. Here, tax revenue takes a back seat to a far different budget model: Jackpot economics. Nearly a decade ago, the city hitched its fate to Indian gaming in a controversial pact with the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians that is now paying big dividends."
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Gee, there's an improvement. Instead of taxpayers getting the bill, the city gets a cut of gambling losses.
Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
2 comments:
So what's next? HOAs opening cardrooms and bingo games to the public instead of raising assessments to cover fund deficits?
Great idea. Maybe we could give HOAs Indian Reservation status so they can turn their rec rooms into casinos.
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