The Broke State....

I believe that the issues Vallejo and other California cities are struggling with are not being brought to the for-front of a larger problem in California. Current day issues of oil prices, inflation, devalued dollar, foreclosures, and a slowing economy continue to be talking points. Vallejo and cities alike continue to have growing foreclosure rates, which in turn will continue to drop the property values in those areas.

The tipping point for Vallejo was last February in which fire and police union contracts could not be signed-off without declaring themselves bankrupt. Similar issues have recently risen in West Contra Costa County where in the next ten years 4,000 city employees are going to retire. The most concerning factor is that property values continue to stagnate while sales tax receipts have fallen over 50% for the year.

Smaller to medium size cities need to be more prepared to take on such challenges. It is always easier to place blame then to help find a solution to the problem. How do we prepare and help these cities fight these problems when the State continues to make more budget cuts?

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