Revenue Loss Angers Early Ally of Governor

The Republican mayor of Fresno, an early supporter of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is furious over the state’s failure so far to replace billions in revenue that cities and counties lost when the governor repealed an increase in the car tax.

Alan Autry, who led a campaign rally for Schwarzenegger on Aug. 28, said the failure of the governor and the Legislature to repay cities represented “financial Armageddon” because it would force layoffs of police and firefighters. He said he had been approached about being host for a visit to Fresno by the governor, but had told a Schwarzenegger aide that he wanted to see more action from the governor. No visit has been set.

Citing Schwarzenegger’s past promises to audit state finances and make government more open, Autry said: “Where’s the audit? Where’s the sunshine you promised?”

Like the governor, Autry is a onetime actor, most notably as a police officer in the TV show, “In the Heat of the Night.” Schwarzenegger has described him as a friend.

On Monday, Autry sent a letter to Schwarzenegger, co-signed by two Republican supervisors in Madera and Fresno counties, beseeching him to repay local governments the money -- about $4 billion -- lost when Schwarzenegger lowered the vehicle license fee rate on his first day in office.

The writers suggested that it was unseemly for state officials to celebrate a legislative deal reached last week over a spending limit and $15-billion bond measure when an issue that is central to millions of Californians remains unresolved.

“At this time, we are not going to join those who are denouncing you for breaking your campaign promises to keep cities and counties whole,” wrote Autry, Madera County Supervisor Ronn Dominici and Fresno County Supervisor Bob Waterston. “But we must implore you to use all the powers of your office ... to provide the leadership required to fix this problem.”

Waterston said he wanted to “give Arnold the benefit of the doubt as a supporter.” But he said that, at a campaign forum before the election, he had told Schwarzenegger that he was worried about the implications of cutting the car tax. “He said, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ ” Waterston said. “ ‘I’ll take care of that.’ I trusted what he said.”

Autry said he had been angered by scenes of the governor and Democratic leaders “backslapping” and congratulating themselves on their deal last Friday. The job was not done, Fresno’s mayor said.

“In that situation, you order pizza and stay in the room until you’ve dealt with all the issues,” he said. “I see this so-called celebration and the backslapping -- and this Christmas season there’s not one reason to celebrate at the local level in this state.”

Without a new source of money, Fresno will lose $18 million out of a $175-million budget.

Asked about Autry’s comments, Margita Thompson, the governor’s press secretary, said Schwarzenegger supported legislation to compensate local governments “and it’s being held up by the Democratic leadership.”

She said the governor was committed to repaying the money. “This is definitely something that the governor is focused on,” Thompson said.

Schwarzenegger is considering visits to Long Beach, San Diego and San Francisco later in the week to hold news conferences dedicated to reimbursement of car-tax money.

On Tuesday, the governor discussed the matter with Senate President Pro Tem John L. Burton (D-San Francisco). A lighter subject was also broached: Burton’s birthday. The Democratic leader turned 71 the day before, and Schwarzenegger presented him with a gift: a set of 12 movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

After meeting privately with Burton for about 40 minutes, Schwarzenegger emerged to tell waiting reporters that he was “working on” an agreement. When he cut the car tax, Schwarzenegger lifted the projected state shortfall to $14 billion for the fiscal year that begins in July.

Asked where he would find the money to make local governments whole, Schwarzenegger blamed the Legislature.

“They spent too much money,” he said. “It’s not where the money’s coming from. They spent too much money. So now we have to cut back on the money that they’ve spent and get a balanced budget going.”

After Schwarzenegger left, Burton said the governor had told him that he had a plan to give local governments the money, but hadn’t “come in with charts and papers.”

Burton said he did not expect a solution soon. The Legislature is scheduled to reconvene in early January.

Times staff writer Carl Ingram contributed to this report.