National League of Cities

The unprecedented double blow of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing steep recession challenges local governments in profound ways, from managing public health responses, ensuring the safety of workers, and balancing budgets in the midst of extreme uncertainty. How are local governments in the U.S. navigating these turbulent times? What impacts on revenues and services are they seeing? How does all of this impact their relationships with federal and state levels of government? Through in-depth interviews with thirty top local leaders (mayors or city/county managers), this article provides an insightful snapshot that begins to answer these questions.

The passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 was a watershed event that ushered in both a new era and a new fiscal regime for California’s local governments. The authors argue that in the wake of follow-on initiatives, a protracted recessionary period, and the state’s use of newly authorized revenue-transfer powers, this still-evolving regime entered a new phase in the 1990s. This article analyzes the primary impacts of and responses to the changes in California’s post-Proposition 13 fiscal regime in the 1990s in five local jurisdictions. The results reveal that the most significant long-term impacts of this regime have been an altered fiscal structure and an unintended decrease in local home rule. These impacts, in turn, have led to cuts in nonessential services, the expansion of sales tax-generating redevelopment efforts, implementation of new taxes and user service fees, and increased reliance on one-time fiscal measures.

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In recent years, there has been a surge of litigation involving the validity of the use of the initiative and referendum in zoning.The author examines the various arguments against allowing the initiative and referendum's use, and concludes that an adequate case has not been made for prohibiting these devices in zoning.American courts are divided on whether voters may use the initiative' to enact, or the referendum 2 to challenge, municipal zoning meat A.B. 1973, University of California; third-year student, Boalt Hall School of Law.1.The initiative permits the direct enactment of legislation by the voters.A proposed measure is placed on the ballot upon certification of petitions bearing the required number of signatures (generally ranging from five to 25% of registered voters).For examples of initiative procedures, see CAL.ELEc.

The United States needs to spend at least a decade applying to the problems of our cities and rural areas the same principles of finance and development used in the international arena.

Abstract Metropolitan planning needs to be a working partnership of various levels of government.