As if the drop in sales tax and construction fees weren't hurting cities and counties enough, plunging property values are hurting local governments even worse...San Mateo County's total property tax revenue could drop $2 billion...(As automatic and requested reassessments become more popular, we all get another warning about unscrupulous businesses trying to scam homeowners about getting reassessed. If you have any questions -- check out Warren Slocum's website...)
As if not wanted to miss the trend, Millbrae decided to seek voter approval to raise the hotel tax by 2 percent and re-upping the fire assessment tax. Voters will likely get a look at these votes in November...
And when politics and budget challenges come to head, we have a situation like we had last night in Daly City. The Daly City City Council cut the salary of the elected City Clerk by half. Could this have anything to do with the fact that folks on the City Council endorsed Annette Hipona's opponent last year? (Hipona won by a lot...)
It was just a matter of time before businesses in Palo Alto chimed in on the proposed (huge) business license tax...the proposed new tax could go before voters in November.
Just as Stanford University's budget crunch was a clear sign that things have tanked, here is another: Portala Valley's only gas station may have to close...don't all those SUVs (and Priuses) still need gas? (Since folks heard of the station's difficulty, it seems people have started spending more money there...)
And now other news:
The Daily Journal's Jon Mays gives his take on needed education reform...
Woodside's COWs give us an update on that town's new fire regulations...
The second local high school principal this week announced her retirement yesterday. Cheryl LeBeouf at Peninsula High is joining Sequioa High's Morgan Marchbanks in heading for greener pastures...actually, LeBeouf is looking to higher ed for her next job while Marchbanks is looking to get her Doctorate...
Menlo Park's Mayor gave his State of the City speech last night. The take
away from the speech, at least according to Watch Dog and the Almanac news story, is that residents shouldn't listen to Lee Duboc...Mayor Robinson, you should probably come up with a better message than that...Watch Dog isn't sure what this means, but it seems that folks in the 14th Congressional District (Eshoo's District) are the most "contented" in the country. Click through to the story and you'll also find out that Congresswoman Eshoo reads her Blackberry in the bathroom. TMI?
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