CALIFORNIA STATE FINANCE AND PROPOSITION 13

Proposition 13 directly impacted the financial activities of the public sector of California and changed the fiscal interrelationships between the state government and units of local government within the state and even interrelationships among local units. The state was forced to take action concerning: 1. government reorganization, 2. financial assistance to cities, counties, and special districts, and 3. determination of the best way of implementing an imprecisely written initiative.Local finances are now even more dependent upon the state's charitable tendencies, and yet state government has been unable to put together a stable plan to aid the local units of government. As long as the state's surplus exists, this situation is tolerable, but the true definition of the state's role will come into clearer focus when the surplus disappears.