Local Fiscal Authority and Stability: Control and Risk in California City Revenues

摘要

Something is seriously out of sync in California. Many of its cities' revenue sources aren' t well aligned with their communities' changing service demands. Diminishing local control over their finances and the unprecedented dominance of the state in local affairs has left city officials frustrated as they work to respond to the growing needs of their communities. When legislators do seek to reform the current system of state-local finance, they encounter hundreds of distrustful local officials and technical complexities in a situation where almost any change helps some communities and harms others.