Under California’s new local control funding formula, schools get additional money for low-income, non-English speaking and foster youth. In a letter State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has told districts they can spend that money for across-the-board teacher raises if they can link the increases to better student services. Torlakson was not available for an interview.
A reasonable estimate would be $350 billion, equivalent to a sixth of the state’s economic output and over twice the official budget number of $167.6 billion.
CalSTRS said Friday it earned 4.8 percent profit on its investment portfolio in the just-ended fiscal year, its lowest gain in three years.
The bill actually aims to keep the public in the dark about public-employee negotiations, ensuring taxpayers never learn the costs of collective bargaining agreements until they’re done deals.
Fueled by an increase in home sales, the assessed value of all taxable property in Los Angeles County rose 6.13 percent in 2015 — the largest jump since 2010 — the county assessor reported Thursday.
Thanks to a rebound in the economy and real estate values, county assessment rolls — and by extension property tax revenues — are going up between 5.2 and 8.7 percent in eight Bay Area counties this fiscal year.
The Department of Finance reports California exceeded revenue projections for the fiscal year by $732 million. Revenues were originally projected to be about $114 billion.
The nation’s largest public pension fund said its investments returned just 2.4% for its fiscal year, ended June 30, far below its 7.5% investment target.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s California Competes program has allocated some $200 million in tax credits in fiscal 2016 for companies to expand in or relocate to California.
Brown, who called special sessions of the Legislature last month to focus attention on the issues, wants at least $1.3 billion annually to help fund Medi-Cal and home-care services. The administration estimates the annual funding shortfall for road repairs is even higher, at about $5.7 billion.
California has the highest state-level sales tax rate at 7.5 percent. Five states tie for the second-highest statewide rate at 7 percent: Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.
California’s cash position was very poor for FY 2013. When including all forms of cash, the state had 1.29 times the amount of cash available to cover short-term expenses, which was almost three times less than the national average. On a fiscal year basis, California had sufficient revenues to cover expenses and ran a slight surplus. But the long-term picture showed several warning signs. Long-term liabilities accounted for nearly 80 percent of the state’s total assets. The largest area of fiscal risk was in California’s state-run pension systems, which had a staggering $636 billion shortfall when calculated on a risk-free or guaranteed-to-be-paid basis.
The Wall Street ratings agency Standard & Poor’s gave a vote of confidence to California’s finances on Thursday, upgrading its credit rating to its highest level in 14 years.
New numbers from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, reflecting the latest data from the Franchise Tax Board, show that the state took in $541 million more in income tax and corporate tax revenue than reflected in the budget approved two weeks ago.
Assessors from California’s 58 counties began reporting their assessment rolls – showing the value of all real property and business personal property in their counties as of the January 1, 2015, lien date – and selected counties that have released their rolls so far have reported major growth.