Legislature moves closer to tax relief for Stanislaus

Stanislaus County has moved one step closer to relief from a state funding formula that has cost it about $70 million over the past 30-plus years.

A legislative conference committee retained the relief in a vote Friday on the 2015-16 budget, a compromise between spending plans approved by Assembly and Senate.

Both chambers passed the compromise budget Monday and sent it to Gov. Jerry Brown, but the Stanislaus relief still must be approved via a “trailer” bill dealing with local government. That likely will happen next week or the week after, said Allison Wescott, spokeswoman for Assembly Republican leader Kristin Olsen of Riverbank.

Olsen had joined with a bipartisan group of lawmakers representing the county in seeking the relief, which has support from Brown.

The issue dates to voter approval in 1978 of Proposition 13, which capped property tax increases. Legislation was enacted to bail out counties and cities for the lost revenue by shifting tax dollars from schools. The state also assumed some of the counties’ health and welfare costs.

But Stanislaus, Mariposa and four other counties did not get a bailout from the formula. They instead were required to give up more property-tax revenue to the state – $2 million to $3.4 million a year for Stanislaus.

The pending relief would not compensate for past losses. The six counties could spend the extra money on law enforcement or other services.

County officials and state lawmakers who represent the county have tried for years to correct the problem only to see their proposals die in the Legislature or be vetoed by previous governors.

This story was originally published June 15, 2015 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Legislature moves closer to tax relief for Stanislaus."