Costa Mesa Vs. Gann Limit

It has been in force since 1979, but the full effect of the Gann initiative that arbitrarily limits government spending will become apparent in Orange County only this November. That is when Costa Mesa voters will go to the polls to decide whether to let the city keep $2.1 million in so-called surplus funds to use for badly needed public-works projects. The alternative under the unrealistic Gann initiative that puts capricious ceilings on government spending is to return the money to taxpayers. The ceilings are based on population growth and inflation.

Although this will be the first election on Gann funds in the county, there have been more than 200 others throughout the state, only two of which have been rejected by voters.

Costa Mesa residents should also approve the City Council plan to use the $2.1 million being held in the city treasury as surplus to maintain the city’s deteriorating streets, to repair and replace damaged curbs and sidewalks and to build new sidewalks--all proper and needed expenditures.

That’s what’s needed. But needed even more is the repeal of the Gann limits, or at least a realistic modification of the formula. The elections, like the one in Costa Mesa this November, are needlessly time-consuming and costly. And the Gann formula that ties spending to the cost of living is unreasonable. Public programs like road improvements, health care and education have no natural link to the consumer price index.

A better formula would be the one proposed by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig, who suggests the use of personal income as the yardstick to measure any rise in local and state government spending. Even better than that, though, would be doing away with the ill-advised Gann spending limit entirely.