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Davis budget has hike in vehicle license fees Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, the vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said Tuesday he has been told by ranking Democrats that the increase back to 1998 levels - generating nearly $4 billion a year for the state Treasury - could occur by week's end. Davis has said previously only that the increase was likely and that it would be ordered by June. The move would raise the current $67 fee to $200 on a car valued at $10,000. The fee increase is a major component of Davis' long-awaited revised budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The document seeks to resolve a budget shortage estimated at between $29 billion and $34.6 billion. Those who have been briefed in the last few days said Davis also will propose: Scrapping most of his original plan to shift responsibility for running state programs to cities and counties, Campbell said. Davis had wanted to shift $6 billion worth of programs to cities and counties. Now, he will propose shifting only about $2 billion in programs, mostly medical and social services for the poor. Davis earlier sought to help finance the shift with increases in income, sales and tobacco taxes. That tax mix, too, is expected to change today. Borrowing $10 billion and repaying it over five years with a half-cent increase in the sales tax. That would raise Orange County's sales tax to 8.25 percent. "We all agree on the borrowing, but where we diverge is the half-cent tax," Campbell said. "He wants a new tax; we think it should be a half-cent of the existing tax." Continue funding at the current level, $1.7 billion, for class-size reduction. However, many schools in Orange County have already curtailed 20-1 classroom ratios because the state still doesn't cover all the costs. Davis' revised budget for the fiscal year that begins in six weeks incorporates the latest tax collections from the April 15 deadline. "It will receive its typical share of praise and attacks (but) it largely reflects what the Legislature asked him to do," Davis aide Steve Maviglio said of the plan. But Campbell noted that Republican votes are needed to attain the two-thirds majorities in both houses to approve the budget. "We didn't like the debt, but we accepted it," he said. "Now we not only have the debt, we're financing it with a tax increase, which is really bad." DAILY BUDGET UPDATE What's new Today marks the next big step in solving the budget crisis - the release of Gov. Gray Davis' revised budget, which is based on the April 15 tax returns. Watch for a report early this afternoon at www.ocregister.com Today's deficit index $71.8 million: The amount needed per day through June 30, 2004, to balance budget. Fluctuates with changes in economy, taxes, state service levels and the time the state has left to correct the problem. Find out more State budget site The Register's budget stories
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