Small City Autonomy in the Federal System: A Study of Local Constraint and Opportunity in California

How severe have been the restrictions on the autonomy of localgovernments, as state and federal mandates and grant programsproliferated in the 1970s? This study of mandate and grant impactsin nine, small California cities suggests that local controlhas not been reduced as much as the recent literature of federalismargues. Municipal officials in these communities perceived arange of effects according to program areas. Clean water standardswere negatively viewed, while state planning mandates actuallyserved to further local goals. Most of the cities did not hesitateto compete for grants, despite their many strings. Based onthe "hard case" of small cities—which are relative newcomersto grant and mandate programs, and generally change-resistantin attitude—this study points out some positive localgovernment impacts of federal-and state-local entanglements. ¹ As associate investigator of the project on which this paperis based, Joan Hogan of the Institute of Governmental Affairs,University of California at Davis, contributed significantlyto the research.     

The Changing Property Tax and State-Local Relations

The substantial transfer of fiscal power to state government,undermining local government autonomy, characterizes the courseof state-local relations in the last quarter of the twentiethcentury in the United States. Central to this shift is diminishedlocal control of the property tax, a result of the tax limitationsadopted in most states since the 1970s. This article arguesthat control of the property tax is critical to the workingsof local representative democracy, affecting both the discretionof elected officials and participation of citizens. It presentsboth quantitative and qualitative evidence of the centralizationtrend, including changes in property-tax flows and state financesaffecting local governments, an analysis of the comparativeseverity of property-tax limitations, changes in K-12 educationfinancing, and local consequences of the tax limitations.     

State Rules and the County-City Arena: Competition for Land and Taxes in California's Central Valley

The vulnerabilities and strategies of county governments inthe American intergovernmental system are explored in this studyof California counties in the post-Proposition 13 era. The propertytax limitations of the 1978 ballot measure have combined witha number of other state fiscal, programmatic, and boundary rulesto constrain county finances. The rules encourage cities topursue growth policies, including annexations and redevelopment,that contribute to county constraints. However, the rules lsoprovide some intergovernmental tools for counties, as illustratedhere by case studies from three Central Valley counties. Employingtheir land-use powers and ability to block annexations, thecounties were recently successful, to varying degrees, in establishingrevenue-sharing agreements with their cities     

POPULATION GROWTH AND ADMINISTRATIVE VARIATIONS IN SMALL CITIES1

This seven city study of administrative arrangements finds that small municipal governments deal with rapid growth in a variety of ways. Some employ central executives, some expand the duties of incumbent officials, and others turn to consultants and outside sources of aid. Accordingly, more or less population increase in a community is not necessarily related to either the kind or degree of administrative change, at least in the short term.     

The Changing Property Tax in the West: State Centralization of Local Finances

Diminished local government autonomy and increased fiscal centralization in the hands of state government are the consequences of the restrictions on the local property tax imposed in the western states in the past twenty years. While the trend is a national one, it is more evident in the West than in other regions. Statewide voter initiatives account for some of the restrictions, particularly the more severe ones, but legislatures and governors also impose these limitations. In tracing the recent course of the centralization of local finance, this article details the property tax restrictions adopted in individual western states, examines the initiative and conventional legislative sources of these actions, and provides quantitative and qualitative evidence for the centralization thesis. In many western states the property tax has lost much of its local character, becoming in large part a fiscal and political tool for state policymakers.     

Mandates As Both Hardship And Benefit: The Clean Water Program In Small Communities

No other intergovernmental policy has been so costly and difficultfor small local governments to implement as the 1972 versionof federal Clean Water legislation. This legislation has requiredthousands of localities to construct new or upgraded sewagetreatment systems. Rural governments have been hard pressedto cope with the demands of the anti-pollution standards, becauseof limited fiscal and managerial capacities and local valuesoften in conflict with national and state policy goals. Yet,as this study of eight rural California communities suggests,implementation can bring local benefits as well as hardship.As a result of their decade-long experiences with the CleanWater program, the small municipalities generally improved theirsewer system finances, acquired new organizational skills andresources, and increased their capacity to accommodate populationgrowth and stimulate economic development. These were long-runimpacts, occurring after initial problems and delays in theplanning, funding, and construction of the new plants.