Lack of Standards Cited by Critics : Extra State Funds for 43 Cities Assailed

SACRAMENTO —  A bill signed into law last weekend by Gov. George Deukmejian will provide 43 Los Angeles County cities with about $3.3 million in extra revenue next year, but critics have already complained that the law fails to spell out standards for awarding the funds.

“It looks as though it’s a smorgasbord of cities without any rationale,” said Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), chairwoman of the Senate Local Government Committee.

The new law, which is linked to a major overhaul of state court funding, will aid cities with little or no property tax revenue. The amount will be increased 10% each year for the next decade.

Setting Criteria

In an interview on Monday, Bergeson said that when the Legislature reconvenes in January she plans to introduce a bill “that will set specific criteria” for cities to receive aid. As a result, cities with substantial reserves could get less than expected.

Further, Bergeson voiced reservations about the way the aid to the cities was hastily inserted into the court reform bill last month--on the last night of the 1987 legislative session.

“I have a major concern about how it was handled,” Bergeson said, adding that neither she nor her committee was consulted about the legislation.

Instead, the provision to aid the cities was hammered out in private discussions among Democratic and Republican legislative leaders. They linked it to the bill to shift the burden of trial court costs from counties to the state and create 109 new judgeships.

Before the cities become eligible for the aid, Los Angeles County must agree to the revenue shift. If the Board of Supervisors agrees, the county would get about 14 Superior Court judgeships and eight Municipal Court judgeships. Of the Municipal Court judges, four would be in downtown Los Angeles and one each in Compton, the Antelope Valley, East Los Angeles and the South Bay.

Revamp Necessary

Lois Wallace, a spokeswoman for the state Finance Department, said the Deukmejian Administration did not have a strong opinion about aid to the cities but believed it was necessary to sign the bill to revamp court funding.

“We just didn’t feel we could delay it (court reform) another year,” Wallace said.

Deukmejian signed the bill, carried by Sen. William Lockyer (D-Hayward), into law on Saturday. When it takes effect next year, it could free about $375 million statewide for other programs, including aid to cities that levy little or no property tax.

These cities maintain that they have been caught in a fiscal pinch since 1978 when the tax-cutting Proposition 13 won passage. It made it difficult for the cities to impose new taxes, and the cities say they have grown but have not had the new revenue to pay for services.

However, critics contend that many of the cities have plenty of money and do not need the extra revenue.

The aid will be phased in, with cities getting 10% more each year for the next 10 years. When fully implemented statewide, the law will cost about $220 million a year.

Legislative staffers estimated that in the first year the cities to benefit would include Bell, $20,000; Bell Gardens, $3,100; Bellflower, $100,000; Cerritos, $200,000; Commerce, $150,000; Cudahy, $17,000; Hawaiian Gardens, $16,000; La Mirada, $130,000; Lakewood, $130,000; Montebello, $6,700; Norwalk, 160,000; Paramount, $87,000; Pico Rivera, $130,000; Santa Fe Springs, $90,000; Signal Hill, $61,000; South Gate, $55,000, and Whittier, $15,000.

Bill Vetoed

In other actions this week, Deukmejian vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Dave Elder (D-Long Beach) that would have allocated at least $15 million from a proposed 1988 transportation bond measure for the construction of sound walls to reduce noise in neighborhoods that adjoin freeways.

In his veto message, Deukmejian said: “I do not believe it is appropriate to elevate the importance of the construction of sound walls over road capacity improvement projects by guaranteeing that a minimum amount be spent on sound-wall construction.”

Elder has sought the funds as a way to speed construction of a noise barrier on the Artesia Freeway in North Long Beach. At least two previous legislative attempts also failed, and the North Long Beach project remains No. 76 on the state priority list for sound-wall construction, Elder said.

In an interview, Elder said that since Deukmejian “does not live next to one of California’s busiest freeways, he may not have a full appreciation for the irritation that constant traffic noise causes.”

Elder said he plans to revive the proposal next year. Indeed, he said he already has inserted a provision similar to the one rejected by Deukmejian into a another bill which, with voter approval, would establish a $1-billion transportation improvement program.

Other Actions

In other actions, the governor:

- Signed legislation by Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) to allow nonprofit groups to lease certain surplus state property, including land at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, for programs providing food and emergency shelter to the homeless.

The land could be leased for $1 per month. Garamendi said “the income to the state from property that could house food and shelter programs is a mere pittance. But to the groups working to meet the needs of the ever-growing homeless population it too often represents gigantic overhead costs that would be better spent on more meals and more beds.”

- Signed a measure by Assemblyman Gerald Felando (R-San Pedro) which extends state sales and use tax exemptions for certain commercial deep-sea fishing operators and operators of passenger fishing boats.

- Signed a bill by Sen. Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose) that splits about $20 million in revenue from oil drilling on state tidelands. Among the projects is $200,000 for the City of Los Angeles for improvements at Harbor Lake in Wilmington. Elder had, without success, sought the funds for two years.

In the Southeast area, the bill channels $500,000 to La Mirada for a community center; $500,000 to Downey for a municipal swimming pool; $250,000 to Cudahy for a swimming pool and $500,000 for the Thompson Pool reconstruction in Bellflower.

- Allowed another bill by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown to become law without the governor’s signature. It split up another $6 million in revenues from oil drilling on state tidelands. The funds include another $150,000 for the Thompson Pool in Bellflower; another $50,000 for the Cudahy pool, and $100,000 for Norwalk park improvements.