Adopt resolution establishing the County of Yolo appropriations limit for 2022-23 in the amount of $4,121,645,145. (No general fund impact) (Rinde)

Adopt resolution establishing the County of Yolo appropriations limit for fiscal year 2022-23, as required by California state law, in the amount of $4,121,645,145. 

Proposition 4, the constitutional amendment adopted by voters on November 6, 1979, established a formula for limiting future appropriations. Proposition 4 became effective beginning in 1980-81 and was designed to prevent governments from raising revenues and expenditures in excess of inflation or growth in personal income and population. The Proposition 4 limit formula began with 1978-79 proceeds of taxes as the base year, with appropriations adjusted annually by the lesser of the change in the cost of living or the change in California per capita personal income, adjusted by the change in population of the jurisdiction.

To counter the slow growth of appropriations limits, Proposition 111 (GANN Initiative) was passed by the voters in June of 1990. Proposition 111, which became effective in FY 1990-91, updated the State's appropriations limit to allow for new funding for priority state programs by changing the base year and formula for calculating the limit. Proposition 111 provides for the use of the FY 1986-87 appropriations limit as the new base and expands the number of growth factors local governments have the discretion to select.The "appropriations subject to limitation" consists of "proceeds of taxes", as defined in the Government Code. This includes appropriations of both locally generated tax revenues and State subventions derived from tax revenues. User fees and service charges are exempt from the limit unless the charges exceed the cost of providing the service. The excess, if any, would be subject to the limit.

In 2022, the State of California passed legislation that enacted Government Code 7903. This statutes requires the County starting in 2021-22 and for subsequent years to treat additional State Subventions as revenues subject to the limit. The California Department of Finance (DOF) will provide figures annually on State Subventions and amounts for inclusion in local limits. The delay in adopting the GANN limit for 2022-23 was influenced by the amount of time for the State DOF to compile these figures. Should local agencies not be able to absorb these additional subventions within their limits, local agencies may report the excess revenue above the limit annually to the State of California in order for any excess to county against the state limit. This was part of the State budget in 2022 in order to prevent the State from exceeding its own GANN limit by shifting certain revenues to be applied against local GANN limits. 

The calculation for the last two years is shown in Att. B. for comparison. The appropriations limit for Yolo County is based upon the prior year's limit adjusted by the percent change in population of the county, multiplied by the percent change in assessed valuation attributable to nonresidential new construction or the change in per-capita personal income (whichever is greater) as presented in Att. C. GANN Limit Calculation.

Revenues in excess of appropriations which exist for more than one year are required to be returned to taxpayers by revision of tax rates. The County's independent auditors review the computation of the appropriations limit for legal compliance on an annual basis. Using guidelines approved by the State Controller's Office, we find that Yolo County's proceeds of taxes are significantly below the appropriation limits established and applied on a consistent basis (other than the changes discussed in Government Code 7903 above). Since 1978-79 the Yolo County appropriations limit has increased from $25,361,952 to $4,121,645,145 (an increase of over 14,000%). This increase is after adjusting the base year amount for subsequent changes in the cost of living, population, the West Sacramento incorporation, and the shift of financial responsibility of trial courts from the County to the State.

In contrast, the amount of revenue subject to the limit has increased from $25,361,952 to $140,154,331 (an increase of 552%). Currently, the County has unused appropriations' capacity of almost $4.0 billion. As a result, there is not a practical effect or limitation imposed on the County budget.

The 2022-23 Appropriations Limit for Yolo County was calculated by the Department of Financial Services.