$5 Billion Proposal Relies on Increase In Court Fees

By Linda Rapattoni
Daily Journal Staff Writer
This article appears on Page 1

SACRAMENTO - The Senate approved a $5 billion proposal Thursday to replace or renovate up to 40 courthouses that are no longer considered safe.
The Senate voted 28-8 on the measure, SB1407 by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, and it now goes to the Assembly.
The proposal would raise criminal penalties, filing fees, parking tickets and traffic school assessments by $2 to $40 to pay for revenue bonds that do not require voter approval.

Funding Fight

Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, who has campaigned in previous years to garner public support for courthouse construction, voted against the measure.
"The funding solution is the main problem I have with this bill," Ackerman told his fellow lawmakers in urging them to vote against the measure. "The funding solution puts the majority of the fines and lease revenue stream on the backs of people who are going to get moving violations and traffic tickets. It should be a general fund obligation because it benefits the entire state and it shouldn't be put on the backs of a particular class of people."
Perata agreed the proposal wasn't "ideal" but said since the state agreed to take over ownership of courthouses from counties it has an obligation to maintain the facilities.

Roadside Justice

In urging approval for the measure, Perata noted that Tehama County sometimes holds court in a parking lot because there aren't enough courtrooms to hear cases. In Riverside County, courts are hearing only criminal court matters because there are not enough courtrooms to hear civil matters, he said.
Some courthouses are seismically unsafe, others don't protect the public from convicted criminals being escorted to and from courtrooms. Some facilities have little or no access for the disabled and others have insufficient room to hold prospective jurors.
The state faces a $15.2 billion budget deficit. Voters have indicated in polls that they don't want to raise taxes and they would rather fund education, health care and roads than courthouses.
Perata's measure would increase filing fees by $35 on cases valued above $25,000, by $30 on cases valued between $10,000 and $25,000 and by $25 on cases up to $10,000.
It would also place a $40 surcharge on infractions, misdemeanors and felonies, and a $2 extra penalty on traffic tickets. It would cost $40 more to attend traffic violator school and there would be a $5 assessment for every $10 in criminal fines.
Filing [fees?] were last increased in 2006.
If the measure passes, construction would not begin for four years, giving the judiciary a chance to determine whether the revenue coming in is enough to fund all 40 projects, or whether it has to drop some from the list.
The first bond would pay for projects in Butte, Los Angeles, Tehama and Yolo counties, judged to have the greatest need by the Judicial Council. The second bond would pay for projects in Imperial, Lake, Monterey, Riverside, Sacramento, Shasta, Sonoma and Sutter counties. Others would follow.