Across Southern California, recession-pinched cities and school districts are asking their voters for help in Tuesday's local elections.
Besides choosing from among scores of candidates for city councils, school boards and other local agencies, voters will decide on a slew of ballot questions, many of which involve money.
With the state mired in its own budget problems and the effects of recession gripping California, local governments and school districts "are on their own" if they need more money, said Dan Carrigg, legislative director for the League of California Cities.
"Cities have been doing the best they can," Carrigg said, "but there are a lot of needs out there for infrastructure and services, and it looks like, for the next few years at least, we can't expect much assistance from the state."
Unlike the state Legislature, local governments generally cannot raise taxes without voters' permission. So measures seeking approval of parcel taxes or school bonds, increases in the sales tax or the updating and continuation of utility or communications taxes have become ballot staples in virtually every election cycle.
On Tuesday, voters in the Oxnard School District will be asked for a $99 tax on each property, to be collected annually for four years, to stave off program cuts and avoid teacher layoffs. Culver City and Long Beach unified school districts are seeking annual five-year parcel taxes of $96 and $92, respectively, also to spare schools from the budget ax. Such taxes require approval from two-thirds of participating voters.
Voters will be asked to approve hotel tax measures in the cities of Artesia, Banning, Blythe, Norco and Rancho Palos Verdes. South Pasadena wants to extend its library tax, and the city of Ventura is asking for a half-cent hike in the sales tax for four years to help pay for police, roads and libraries.
Other cities -- including Coachella, Huntington Park, Palm Springs and Pomona -- are hoping for permission to update and retain their utility-users or communications taxes. And Redondo Beach is asking voters to remove an exemption for a corporation-owned electricity-generating plant.
The city of Palmdale is pitching a proposed new city charter as its ticket to a more secure financial future, in part by giving officials more flexibility in contracting for projects and services.
