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YOU, TOO, CAN BE A PART OF THIS EFFORT BY COPYING THIS LETTER ON YOUR LETTERHEAD AND SENDING TO YOUR LEGISLATORS:
December 4, 2003
The Honorable Wesley Chesbro
Cc: Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger Re: Vehicle License Fees – Protect Local Revenues and Local Services Dear Senator Chesbro: On behalf of the Benicia Chamber of Commerce, I urge you to act immediately to restore the Vehicle License Fee (VLF) backfill for cities and counties to protect future funding for police and fire protection, public health and other vital local services. As you know, Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed an executive order rescinding the increase in VLF. The Governor has pledged to work with legislators to offset the $4 billion loss to local governments. We urge the legislature to come together and immediately approve a reinstatement of the backfill or some other reimbursement to keep cities and counties whole and to avert a funding crisis that would devastate local public safety and other essential services. VLF is a critical funding source for cities and counties. The vast majority of VLF in many cities and counties goes directly to fund law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical response and health care. For Benicia, VLF provides $1.5 million for funding the City’s General Fund. More than half of this amount pays for police and fire services, with the remainder of funding for services such as street repair, parks and maintenance, and services to youth and the elderly. California residents value and depend on the essential local services provided by local governments. Failure to reinstate a backfill for VLF losses will leave California communities hemorrhaging from a $4 billion dollar loss. It’s an unacceptable alternative that will hit at the heart of the services that California residents, your constituents, rely on every day.
Please act right away to reinstate the VLF backfill and to protect our local services. Regards,
Mike Lamb |