Pacific Progressive

$3 Million Hit to La Habra from New State Budget

La Habra will have $3 million taken back by the California budget.  over $1 million will be taken from the Highway Use Tax Account. The La Habra Redevelopment Agency will lose $600,000.  $1.3 million in property tax revenue will be taken by the state.  $3 million is about 8% of La Habra's general fund.  

For FY 09-10, the budget for the Redevelopment Agency was $5.8 million. The $600,000 hit is over 10% of the agency's budget.  La Habra Redevelopment Agency owes the City over $8 million for a bond refinancing that the City undertook on behalf of the Redevelopment Agency (RDA).  In FY 08-09, the RDA paid the City $650,000 to continued repayment of the debt.  In FY 09-10, the repayment amount was cut to $200,000. The $600,000 forced budget reduction will hamper efforts of the RDA to finance new redevelopment projects in  La Habra.

Property tax revenues were projected to be flat in the adopted FY 09-10 budget. Giving $1.3 million in property tax money back to the state is about 10% of the approximately $13 million La Habra was expected to receive this year.

The League of California Cities and the California Redevelopment Association contend that state proposals are illegal under the California Constitution and existing State law. The groups are currently exploring options for having the proposed budget amended to remove the taking of money from cities.

OCTA Transit Cuts

http://www.octa.net

Here's a list of what is being cut by the OCTA during 2009.  This is very, very long (about 20+ pages if you're printing it.)

Summary of OCTA June & September 2009 Service Cuts

(Does not include Night Owl Service discontinuation.)

May 28, 2009

Prepared by Reggie Mundekis, [email protected]

What is Impacted

154 Schools & Colleges 

53 Shopping Centers

27 Medical Facilities

40 Employers & Office Parks

52 Government Facilities

52 Recreation & Other Facilities

32 Transportation Centers & Connectors 

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 4

Who Rides the Night Owl?

Night Owl late night, all night, bus service will be cut on 4 lines starting September 2009.  For many people who work at night, this is their only source of transportation.  Losing this way to work may make them try to find another job they can get to using the resources they have.  To many people, these workers are invisible - they work at night, at jobs most people never think of, and we never see them.

What do they do at night?  Take care of patients in hospitals and other health care facilities.  Wash our tablecloths and uniforms.  Perform maintenance and housekeeping.  Stock store shelves.  They keep much of our world looking very nice.  And we hardly ever see them or think about them.

Where can't you get to work now, well after the rest of us have gone to bed?

Some of the places you won't get to are:

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 3

Once is not enough, apparently not when the OCTA cuts bus service.  Four routes are being cut twice - once in June and again in September.    Here are those routes and the impacts.

Line	Route	Impacts
20	La Habra to Yorba Linda	June Eliminate 6:44PM Eliminate 7:34 PM eastbound September Increase time between trips from 30 to 45 minutes Destinations Impacted:   Downtown Yorba Linda, Yorba Linda Community Center,  Brea Gateway Center, Brea Promenade, Brea Mall, La Habra Marketplace and 2 schools
33	Fullerton to Huntington Beach	June  Increase time between trips from 30 to 35 minutes September  On Sunday, increase time between trips from 60 to 65 minutes Destinations Impacted: 10 schools, Little Saigon, and Huntington State Beach
46	Los Alamitos to Orange	June Eliminate total of 8 trips during morning and afternoon peak periods.  Create a new short turn routing between The Village at Orange and Knott Avenue that terminates at Orange and Knott Avenues.  Increase the time between trips from 20 to 24 minutes during the afternoon. September  On Sunday, cut last eastbound trip. Destinations Impacted: 11 schools, Orange Library, Greyhound Station, Disneyland, Anaheim General Hospital, Western Medical Center  - Anaheim
177	Foothill Ranch to Laguna Hills	June Weekday cuts - Cut 6:38 PM & 7:13 PM northbound  and 5:15 AM  southbound trips. Saturday and Sunday cuts - Increase time between trips from 45 to 60 minutes all day September Saturday and Sunday - Increase time between trips from 60 minutes to 90 minutes all day Destinations Impacted: 1 school, Foothill Ranch Market Place, Foothill Ranch Towne Center, Baker Ranch Plaza, Foothill Corporate Centre, Laguna Hills Mall, Saddleback Hospital.

http://www.octa.net/

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 2

OCTA  http://www.octa.net/ will make more cuts in September 2009, in addition to the June 2009 cuts.  This round of cuts will impact your ability to get to:

• 129 Schools and Colleges 
• 43 Shopping Centers, Malls, and Shopping Districts 
• 19 Hospitals and Medical Facilities 
• 32 Employers and Office Parks 
• 39 Civic Centers, Senior Centers , Libraries and other Government facilities
• 24 Park & Rides and Transit Connectors 
• 40 Parks, Beaches and other destinations

These cuts make it difficult to get to work, go to school, obtain medical care, go shopping for food and clothing, get books from a public library, get to a park or beach, and conduct business with the government.  If you depend on the bus, you are slowly being cut off from being able to compete in our local economy.

Trip Frequency and Service Reductions Starting September 2009

Starting in September 2009, replan your trip if you need to get to these destinations.  You can still get there, but it may be tricky, depending on when you need to be there, how long you need to stay, and what other connections you need to make to arrive at your final destination.  Here are the details:

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 1

OCTA http://www.octa.net/ is making severe, deep cuts to balance a budget.  These cuts are severe and will impact our local economy.  These cuts make it difficult to get to school, work, medical care, government facilities, other transportation, and recreational opportunities.  This will impact our recovery from the current economic crisis.  How can you hold a job you can't get to?  How can you go to college when you can't afford to get to classes?  How do you get to a doctor's appointment if you don't have a car or can't drive?

And, the cuts to service to transit connectors like Park & Rides and Metrolink stations mean no more saving money and energy with public transportation for some people.  If you can't get from the station to where you need to go, why take the train or carpool?

Where are the cuts and who will they hurt? 

• 78 Schools and Colleges have reduced service 
• 27 Shopping Centers, Malls, and Shopping Districts have less transit service
• 14 Hospitals and Medical Facilities have fewer buses available
• 17 Employers and Office Parks have fewer trips to bring employees to work
• 27 Civic Centers, Senior Centers and Libraries have fewer buses to get residents to city  services
• 22 Park & Rides and Transit Connectors have fewer ways to move people to and from the sites
• 13 Parks and Beaches have fewer trips to bring people to recreational opportunities

This is Part 1 of a series. The other stories in the series will examine the impact of the cuts starting June 14 and the proposed September 2009 cuts.

Trip Frequency and Service Reductions Starting June 14, 2009

Fullerton, La Habra & Costa Mesa Applying for $1.3 Million to Fight Foreclosures

Fullerton, La Habra and Costa Mesa are applying for  over $1.3 million to help fight foreclosures and problems arising from abandoned homes.  The Cities are applying for a joint grant of up to $1,369,854 in Neighborhood Stabilization Funding (NSP) to provide homebuyer counseling, and to acquire, rehabilitate, demolish or redevelop properties in parts of the cities experiencing high foreclosure rates.  

Fullerton will be the lead city and will administer the funds.  Fullerton is applying fro $608,623, La Habra $457.482 and Costa Mesa $303,749.

NSP was established for the purpose of stabilizing communities that have suffered from foreclosures and abandoned homes.   http://www.nls.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/neighborhoodspg/

La Habra & Measure M Money

Looking at the FY 2008/09 La Habra budget shows Measure M money is over 16% of city revenue, which is more than Sales Tax (15.56%)  Property Tax is a little over 20%.  La Habra is starting to attract big box stores and has some redeveloped plazas which can bring in higher sales tax revenues.