Message from CARPD President:
Joe Gibson, Conejo Recreation & Park District

January 2012

I hope the New Year finds you in good health and spirits.

As we enter 2012, we find that Gov. Brown has a new tax initiative that he hopes to get voters to approve. We are also faced with the hopes that our local economies will finally rebound and that local tax revenues will improve. The California Legislature passed a budget in June relying on optimistic projections of how much money the state could bring in with a growing economy. But to the surprise of few, not all of that money has materialized. Although recently the California High Court has ruled that the state can use more than a $ billion annually of Redevelopment property tax to balance the budget.

As usual, the most significant crisis that special districts, including recreation and park districts, find is how to continue to find revenues to fund the services that we provide. Most all recreation and park districts are seeing increasing costs with declining or at best stable revenue. Over the past several years, most all of us have implemented numerous cost-saving programs to address the decline in property tax and have secured local financing. However, the continued restraints and new requirements for doing so are becoming increasingly hard to allow local jurisdictions to implement local revenue options.

Gov. Brown has implemented the first set of trigger cuts in December reducing funding to state colleges and universities as well as to health care. With the state on a slow path to economic recovery, the question is: “What cuts are next?” What will the legislature do to solve the problem in 2012? Will they look again to special districts as an option?

We have seen state parks take huge hits. The California parks system will take a $22 million cut in 2012 after an $11 million cut in 2011, reducing its budget to $99 million and closing parks for the first time. Obviously parks are not considered a key element in the state budget - and will this cause the legislature to force more onto local park districts?

Faced with few options, it is important that we as members of CARPD work together and communicate our value to our residents.

Happy New Year!
Joe Gibson
President CARPD