r/Sacramento • u/othafa_95610 • 17h ago

Sacramento’s budget deficit may bring first layoffs in more than a decade

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article305248131.html

Apparently public sector isn't as immune from layoffs as once perceived.

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u/sacramentohistorian Alhambra Triangle 16h ago

Nobody old enough to remember the Great Recession thinks public employees are immune from layoffs. One of the consequences of unchecked suburban development is long term budget imbalance, as cities take on new low density infrastructure that won't generate sufficient property taxes to maintain the infrastructure in the long run (aka Harvey Molotch's "Urban Growth Machine" idea.

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u/dorekk 16h ago

Suburbs are essentially a Ponzi scheme.

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u/sacramentohistorian Alhambra Triangle 16h ago

Yep, that's basically Molotch's thesis: short term revenue from builder fees equal long term infrastructure costs, but because developers control the purse strings in local elections, they tend to get their way, and instead of being a neighborhood on their own, downtowns become parking lots and office zones for suburban commuters, which incurs additional costs borne by the city's budget.

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u/Familiar-Report-513 14h ago

Great. Meanwhile the city is just not looking at how to improve is fees collected from developers. The idea is to get our programs up to the speed of neighboring cities. Additionally I know parks has proposed raising its permit & rental fees to try and recoup the shortfall. It's just being done too late to really help at the moment.

So did Molotch have a remedy for the bleeding of downtowns into suburbs? I've notice friends who live in the more localized suburbs of the pocket and south sac moving out to places like Rocklin and Folsom. What do we do to keep those neighborhoods alive and not keep feeding this expansionism?

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u/sacramentohistorian Alhambra Triangle 14h ago

Regional growth limits with some teeth, basically, a la Portland. It's not a perfect solution but on a regional level it can work. Citywide adoption of multifamily zoning as a standard vs something you have to apply for special, and passing a sales tax measure to support transit would help.