Government Insolvency

The California State Auditor is Again Driving Without a Dashboard

The California State Auditor is Again Driving Without a Dashboard

Last spring, when I wrote “The Rise of Zombie Cities,” I thought that, by now, some of my statements would have been proven prophetic. In the article, I discussed the results of the California State Auditor’s 2022 report on the “Fiscal Health of Cities.” I also noted several negative trends affecting city finances, such as...

By Mark Moses

Bay Area Financial Crisis: Oakland

Bay Area Financial Crisis: Oakland

Like San Francisco, the Bay Area City of Oakland is facing major budget woes. Mayor Sheng Thao’s proposed budget for 2023-25 released last month reveals the city is facing  a $360 million shortfall, the largest budget deficit in Oakland’s history.  The proposed budget for FY 2023-24 and 2024-25 plans for total expenditures of over $2.1...

By Sheridan Swanson

San Francisco’s Financial Crisis

San Francisco’s Financial Crisis

The State of California isn’t the only one scrambling to prepare a budget while staring down a deficit. Several Bay Area municipalities are also struggling with their own budget problems, San Francisco chief among them.  San Francisco’s 2022-23 budget and next year’s 2023-24 budget total approximately $14 billion each. On March 31, the San Francisco...

By Sheridan Swanson

The Rise of Zombie Cities 

The Rise of Zombie Cities 

When the California State Auditor’s Office released its annual report on the “Fiscal Health of California Cities” in fall 2022, most city officials and journalists focused on the blunt financial risk rating results and the relative position of their city organization amongst the 431 cities analyzed. But there is more that we can learn from...

By Mark Moses

Rethinking Transparency And Accountability: Part 2

Rethinking Transparency And Accountability: Part 2

As with transparency, accountability is championed in government settings. Government officials and employees must be accountable to the public for the decisions they make and the money they spend, but what is really meant by accountability, and how should we think about it in a local government context? The best description of accountability that I...

By Mark Moses

Looming Deficits Present Another Opportunity to Offer Solutions for California

Looming Deficits Present Another Opportunity to Offer Solutions for California

Just a few months ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom was bragging about California’s “$100 billion budget surplus.” At the same time, the California Policy Center was pointing out that the governor’s “surplus” was fantasy – that state and local governments owed about $1.6 trillion. In those heady days, however, with obliging media cheering him on, Newsom...

By Edward Ring

A Surplus of Nonsense in the Governor’s Latest Budget

A Surplus of Nonsense in the Governor’s Latest Budget

There are two big days for a California governor, January 10 when the budget is presented and the May Revise when a few months of additional data and debate have passed. They’re both political documents, allowing governors to play with numbers. Few governors have been as sporting in that enterprise as Gavin Newsom. Last week,...

By John Moorlach

Sacramento City Unified Teacher Salary Analysis

Sacramento City Unified Teacher Salary Analysis

With the recent Sacramento City Unified strike, the California Policy Center conducted an analysis which compared Sacramento City Unified teacher salaries to nearby Elk Grove Unified. Looking at 2020 data from Transparent California, we found that Sacramento City Unified’s average regular pay for their teachers is between $81,344 and $84,407 which is about $2,000 and...

By Brandon Ristoff

Examining California’s Renewable Energy Plan

Examining California’s Renewable Energy Plan

This article originally appeared on the website California Globe. If you live in California, by now you’ve probably seen the ads, either on prime time television or online, exhorting you to “Power Down 4 to 9PM.” These ads are produced by “Energy Upgrade California,” paid for by “investor-owned energy utility customers under the auspices of...

By Edward Ring

California State and Local Liabilities Total $1.6 Trillion

California State and Local Liabilities Total $1.6 Trillion

California’s total state and local government debt now stands at almost $1.6 trillion, or about half the state’s GDP. That isn’t an alarming ratio when compared to the national debt, which has now soared to 128 percent of U.S. GDP with no end in sight. But Californians carry this $1.6 trillion state and local debt ($40,000 per capita)...

By Edward Ring

Ill-Timed Fossil Fuel Pension Disinvestment Bill Threatens Economy

Ill-Timed Fossil Fuel Pension Disinvestment Bill Threatens Economy

As international tensions threaten US and global energy supplies, the California State Senate is considering legislation that would compel public pension funds to divest from fossil fuel companies, potentially starving these firms of capital. The Senate bill is the latest in a series of initiatives designed to replace traditional portfolio management with a set of...

By Marc Joffe

Twelve Out of Fifteen Largest California Cities Don’t Have Money to Pay their Bills According to Accounting Study

Twelve Out of Fifteen Largest California Cities Don’t Have Money to Pay their Bills According to Accounting Study

Despite what some politicians in Sacramento might tell you, California is not known for its fiscal sustainability. Last year, the Golden State received an “F” for fiscal health from financial watchdog Truth in Accounting. The group calculated that California has a $264 billion deficit, which translates to $21,100 per taxpayer. The analysis turns the narrative...

By Brandon Ristoff

California is Rolling in Education Money

California is Rolling in Education Money

The governor of CA is about to go on a taxpayer-funded spending spree. Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his education spending plan, which comes to $119 billion including local, state and federal sources. This would raise per-pupil spending to $20,855, and make California one of the highest spending states in the country. (That...

By Larry Sand

Why are we not talking about California’s pension problems?

Why are we not talking about California’s pension problems?

It is no secret that California has its own myriad of economic issues: high taxes, a bloated government, overly powerful unions, and many more. However, one issue that is a product of all of these, but does not get nearly enough attention, is skyrocketing public pensions. For as long as I can remember, unions and...

By Cecilia Iglesias