Cities Take Aim at State’s Tax Funds : Revenue: Local officials call for an initiative to guarantee a steady share.

Officials from eight cities gathered at Covina City Hall to call for a statewide initiative to guarantee a minimum share of the state’s tax revenues for cities.

“I think it’s time that we should stand up and say that traditional revenue should be maintained by cities,” Covina Councilman Chris Lancaster said Monday at a press conference he organized. “Otherwise, some cities will die and become obsolete.”

Lancaster recommended that cities gather signatures to place an initiative on the November, 1994, ballot. He said the initiative should mandate that a portion of revenue, including sales and property taxes, motor vehicle registration fees and cigarette taxes, be returned to cities by entitlement.

An initiative campaign has been gaining proponents across the state in response to a plan under consideration by the Legislature to make up part of an $11-billion shortfall by decreasing the portion of property taxes and vehicle registration fees distributed to cities.

The officials conceded that a constitutional amendment would not immediately deal with the budget crisis many cities are facing this year, but they said it was a long-term solution. They called on the League of California Cities to coordinate the signature drive.

The league’s delegates will probably vote on a resolution calling for an initiative campaign at the organization’s annual conference in Los Angeles in October, spokeswoman Sheri Erlewine said. She said the resolution has been on the league’s agenda for a few months because of pressure from cities.

City officials said they have never seen such fiscal problems as now exist. They expressed concern that it will only get worse if the state takes away about $2.8 billion in vehicle license fees and property tax revenue.

In addition to Lancaster, other representatives attending the press conference were Azusa Mayor Eugene F. Moses, La Puente Mayor Louis Perez, La Verne Mayor Jon Harry Blickenstaff, San Dimas Mayor Terry L. Dipple, Upland Mayor Robert R. Nolan, Claremont Councilwoman Judy Wright and Glendora Councilman Larry Glenn.

They criticized Sacramento for plundering city revenues to make up for the state’s shortfalls. If the process continues, they said, cities will be forced to lay off employees and severely cut existing services. Many have already dipped into reserves to balance their 1992-93 fiscal year budgets, and La Verne has laid off seven employees.

“California should realize that we’re in a crisis,” Blickenstaff said. “If (the state) spends more than it takes in, then that should be adjusted.”