Friday News: Stockton to consider taxes for the November ballot, Kings are Sold, and Unemployment is down to 9%

I guess it is a good thing that the release of our next economic forecast was delayed until next week. I have a lot of editing ahead of me this weekend.

In what I thought could be a potentially newsworthy passage, I had written that the City should move forward now to put a general tax increase before voters in November, even if negotiations with the creditors are still on-going.  I had heard and thought that the City Manager and bankruptcy counsel felt that any request for a tax increase had to come later, after a plan of adjustment were approved.  I disagreed, and thought they should move ahead with taxes as soon as bankruptcy eligibility was confirmed, and voters could be assured that if they voted for taxes it wouldn't just be swallowed up by unsustainable employee contracts (the likely outcome if taxes were approved prior to 2012).  The Mayor pushing his competing Safe Streets tax initiative for the November ballot only increases the urgency.

Well, this afternoon the Stockton Record posted this.

Stockton's proposed budget includes call for tax hike

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By The Record

May 17, 2013 3:48 PM

STOCKTON — The city could ask voters as soon as November to raise taxes to pay back some debts suspended in bankruptcy and bolster Stockton's fight on crime.

 

I am happy to see this development, and even happier that it isn't appearing the day after the Record runs a story in which I suggest it. I would urge the Council to move ahead now with some sort of tax initiative. If the details about the bankruptcy plan of adjustment are still too murky to support a long-run general tax initiative, then they should offer a very short-run tax for public safety as a substitute or compromise with the Mayor's plan.

In Sacramento, the Kings prevailing with the NBA and the Maloofs quickly selling to the Sacramento group is another pleasant surprise. While there are some legitimate concerns with the arena deal, overall, this is another positive development.

And the California unemployment rate dropped all the way to 9% today. This was a good day. A great way to start the weekend. Time to open a bottle of wine.

[Some minor content and formatting edits were made Sunday upon rereading this mess. I confess I had already opened the wine when I wrote it.]