Mayor Acquanetta Warren and the City Council Thank Senator Gloria Negrete-McLeod and Assembly Member Carter for their efforts to restore a critical revenue stream.
Fontana, California, August 29, 2012. The Mayor and City Council want to publicly thank Senator Gloria Negrete-McLeod and Assembly Member Carter for their efforts to protect public safety dollars for the City of Fontana.
In June 2011, Governor Brown passed a bill (SB 89) to redistribute Vehicle License Fee (VLF) revenue to replace an expired funding source for local law-enforcement grants. A law in 2006, had given new cities or cities with newly annexed areas additional license fee revenue to help pay for public safety services. In recent years, Fontana has annexed thirteen miles of unincorporated area, in which these extra VLF funds were supporting public safety services for these residents. This shift in revenue resulted in an approximate
loss of $700,000 per year.
This shift in funds to cities with newly annexed areas was an unintentional consequence of SB 89. Senator Negrete-McLeod and Assembly Member Carter’s understand the need for public safety funding and jointly support legislation to restore vehicle license fee funding for California’s newest cities and cities with newly annexed areas.
“I personally feel they represent the needs of Fontana residents and I am very grateful for their support of our community,” Stated Mayor Acquanetta Warren. Fontana Police Chief Rodney Jones supports the late session efforts because it is the “fair and equitable thing to do.” “I appreciate the economic challenges facing our state;
however, the disproportionate share of VLF funds lost to this community is unfair to the residents I serve.” “All we are asking is that Fontana’s share of VLF funds is the same as other California cities.”