League of California Cities Launches www.SaveYourCity.net to Showcase How a State Raid of Local Property Taxes Would Harm California Communities; Duarte Set to Lose $300,000 
The League of California Cities today is launching www.SaveYourCity.net as a unique and innovative platform for mayors, city council members and concerned members of the public to tell policy makers how communities will be devastated if the state forces cities to bail the state out of its budget deficit. Anyone can register on the site and submit a video. Each video uploaded to www.SaveYourCity.net will automatically be sent to the Governor and the legislators of the person who submitted the video. More than 300 city officials including Mayor John Fasana and Councilmember Lois Gaston in addition to business, community leaders and the public have already submitted video testimony to lawmakers and the Governor.
Duarte City Council members are gravely concerned about this state proposal and its impact on City services. The City needs your help. It is easy to get your thoughts heard in our ever expanding electronic age and it is so important to let State officials know that Duarte Taxpayers are extremely concerned about the State’s fiscal problems and how it continues to affect both their families and fellow residents. Please visit www.SaveYourCity.net and find an interactive forum where users can search for videos relevant to their local community. The Web site also features a form for groups wanting to join the Save Your City Coalition and a tool kit with fact sheets for how budget cuts will affect the affordable housing community, public safety, the environment, labor, builders and business. The Council is also continuing to ask residents to please contact both Assembly member Anthony Portantino 626-577-9944 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and State Senator Gloria Romero 323-881-0100 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and express your concerns as well.
Since 1991, state officials have taken over $10 billion in local property taxes to meet state obligations, costing cities over $900 million each year. Now state officials are considering forcing local governments to “loan” the state $2 billion in local property tax revenues to help close the state’s budget deficit. This type of borrowing binge to fund today’s budget is part of what got California into its budget mess in the first place. It needs to be stopped if we ever hope to have a responsible budget.
Cities are facing the same economic stress as the state and have already made incredibly difficult budget cutting decisions to layoff employees, implement furloughs, and slash vital local services, including public safety, youth recreation and senior services. The proposal to use local property taxes to fix the state’s budget woes will threaten the safety of every Californian.
In addition to the Save Your City Web site, the League has also launched a page for Save Your City on Facebook where fans can get the latest updates on the campaign and network with others who are concerned about the devastating impact a state raid of local property tax revenues would have on their city services.
