Results tagged “budgetcrisis”

In addition to raising the car toll another $1 come 2013, the board of directors of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District is considering charging bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the bridge following the completion of seismic upgrades to the pedestrian walkways. The board meets today to review these proposals, which are meant to close a projected $132 million deficit over the next five years.

Facing a $150 million budget deficit this year due to cuts in state funding and higher operating costs, UC Berkeley has hired Bain & Co., a Massachusetts-based consultant with offices in San Francisco, for a hefty $3 million fee, plus expenses, to help the university find long-term ways to save money. As Fark.com aptly puts, "Somehow, cutting consultant fees from the budget isn't likely to make the list."

The cruel, cruel Governator is expected today to use his line-item veto power to make further cuts to social programs--particularly those serving the poor--as he signs off on the State of California's latest budget. To highlight his cruelty, local news stations have concentrated on possible cuts to in-home care for people with cerebral palsy, and to insurance for poor families with cute little children like Jacob in the video above. As KCBS reports, even these cuts are not expected to improve the state's shitty credit rating (currently a BBB while most states have AAA or AA), because the budget is "filled with accounting tricks" too.

In this clip from Russia Today, an English-language news program based in Moscow, the suave and accented anchorman speaks with an American correspondent about the fiscal crisis in California and the "meaningless pieces of paper" the state is now issuing to vendors in lieu of cash. Is it just us, or does this dude have a certain smirky, bemused attitude toward the idea that this state with the 8th largest economy in the world is bankrupt?

ABC 7 brings us this report about how Oakland may try to solve its budget crisis, in part, by becoming the first city in the nation to directly tax marijuana dispensaries. The city would impose a 1.8% levy, which would mean that the four official pot clubs would have to pay $18 for every $1,000 sold -- currently, through standard business taxes, the city collects $1.20 for every $1,000 sold -- and would potentially raise $400,000 for the coming fiscal year. This measure goes onto a special election ballot being voted on this month.