Thanks to Chiesa, governor, end of ‘negative bailout’ near

We must fight through the temptation to do a victory dance and keep the high-fives on the down-low, at least for now.

That’s hard, realizing that Gov. Jerry Brown has endorsed a remedy to 30 years’ worth of Stanislaus County being shortchanged. That’s 30 years of seeing every other county get two or three times more of its property taxes back from the state than we were getting. Thirty years of county officials gritting their teeth, knowing the difference that $1 million or $3 million more could make in their budgets – more deputies, more medical services, more road repairs.

For 30 years, Stanislaus has suffered as the foremost victim of the “negative bailout.” It was the unintended consequence of Proposition 13, which slashed property taxes in 1978. As the state acted to help counties cope with those lost revenues, it passed a law that included a complex formula to reallocate part of every county’s property taxes, then backfill education and social services spending. For most counties it worked, but for those few that were most prudent and financially conservative, it backfired. Not only did the county get less in taxes, it had to give up more to the state.

Instead of getting a gold star for being a good steward of public money, Stanislaus County was penalized. While other counties got back 20, 30 or even 40 percent of their property tax dollars, Stanislaus got back only 11 percent. As the value of property grew, and higher taxes were assessed, that disparity grew into enormous sums. County CEO Stan Risen estimates net losses have exceeded $70 million in 30 years.

Bringing an end to this inequity has been Vito Chiesa’s singular cause since he became a county supervisor. He has pushed the case to everyone who would listen, even convening high-level meetings in the Governor’s Office. He has pleaded with organizations and the governor’s budget master. He has been utterly tenacious.

So when Gov. Brown included a once-and-for-all remedy in his May state budget revise, it was time for rejoicing. Well, almost.

We’ve seen efforts to end this injustice go through the Legislature, then die. Chiesa, who is also president of the California State Association of Counties, worries that could happen again.

“It’s tied to redevelopment (fund) dissolution,” Chiesa said on Friday. “The League of Cities doesn’t like it, that’s one thing. And just the shenanigans that happen after midnight during budget times.”

On Thursday, when the budget revision containing the fix was announced, influential lawmakers such as Kristin Olsen, Anthony Cannella, Adam Gray and Cathleen Galgiani shared their delight. But Chiesa was considering the next move. He figures Gray in the Assembly and Galgiani in the Senate are crucial to helping push this through budget negotiations in the Legislature.

With more money in state coffers, Chiesa knows there will be enormous pressure from Democrats to spend every dime. He worries the $3 million a year from Stanislaus could be swept into someone else’s wallet. As he notes, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Gray and Galgiani to fund other priorities.

“We’re a poor area. We get back only 11 cents on our property tax dollars,” Chiesa said. “All we’re asking for is fairness. We just want to be zeroed out.”

Chiesa pointed out that Brown was governor when this problem began, so it’s fitting he should be governor when it gets fixed.

“He understands,” Chiesa said, “he really does. I give him a lot of credit, but he genuinely gets the problem for us.”

Chiesa also recognizes that funny things can happen in the corridors of the Capitol, so he’s willing to wait a little longer before celebrating, just not another 30 years.

This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Thanks to Chiesa, governor, end of ‘negative bailout’ near."