Feds to the Rescue, but the Peril Remains: Preventing the Next Fiscal Apocalypse

Nearly one year after the COVID-19  pandemic froze local economies and set cities on a path toward fiscal apocalypse, state and local governments across the country are breathing a sigh of relief with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, which provides $350 billion in aid to state and local governments.

TPR interviews contributing editor and former Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole on the implications of the fiscal reset on city budget, policy, and service priorities going forward. Cole asserts that the relief provides California with a unique opportunity to realign local revenue sources and rebalance the state-local fiscal relationship in order to make "government work better and cost less."

"In the four decades that have elapsed [since Prop 13], California has endured devastating recessions, earthquakes, riots, droughts and wildfires, but somehow none of that has convinced government to go back and figure out a rational way to pay for local services" —Rick Cole

For the full interview, visit The Planning Report.