Calif. Budget Plan Relies on Accounting Maneuvers

[Elmore Furth]

Source: Associated Press

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 6, 2010
Filed at 7:04 p.m. ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers got their first look during brief committee hearings Wednesday at a proposal that attempts to end the state's record-long budget impasse and close a $19 billion deficit, primarily through targeted spending cuts and a large dose of creative accounting.

The deal, reached late last week between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the four Republican and Democratic leaders of the Assembly and Senate, does not contain new taxes or fees. Instead, it relies on a series of assumptions and accounting shifts.

For example, it would delay nearly $2 billion in payments to K-12 schools and community colleges until the next fiscal year. It also counts on the state receiving $5.3 billion from the federal government, nearly $2 billion more than Schwarzenegger projected in May.

Schwarzenegger and the legislative leaders also assume an economic recovery in California that would be robust enough to send $1.4 billion in additional tax revenue to state coffers.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/06/us/AP-US-California-Budget.html?_r=1&ref=news

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I thought creative financial accounting and unrealistically optimistic projections were part of what got us into this mess in the first place.

[county worker]

1. This is going to be taken out on the backs of government workers, health services for the indigent

and just about anyone who can't fight back.

[SoapBox]

2. And that whole SLEAZY thing where the family is forgiven the $30 million in taxes?

...slimey.