From the Los Angeles Daily News:

County budget fat with tax cash

Safety, health, homeless benefit

BY RACHEL URANGA, Staff Writer

LA Daily News

Bolstered by a property tax windfall in a surging housing market, Los Angeles County officials on Monday unveiled a $19.3 billion budget proposal designed to boost public safety and homeless services and improve nursing care at public hospitals.

Skyrocketing home prices have allowed the county to restore some of the services it slashed during the state budget crisis that also hammered local governments. But officials cautioned that they plan to take a conservative approach to growth so as not to be overextended if the economy heads downward.

It's not often you see in the news an explicit tying of taxes to benefits for the citizenry. And another thing: even though economic forces were largely the cause of the budget crisis of earlier years, the manipulation of the energy market in 1999-2000 by players like Enron did substantial harm to the state, diminishing its ability to provide safety, health, and services. Many people seem to have forgotten that. Perhaps the trial of Skilling and Lay will remind them.


posted by Quiddity at 4/18/2006 08:07:00 AM