The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandate—Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board

May 5, 2025 - Because the California Constitution does not require the state to reimburse local governments for costs to comply with federal law, disagreements have arisen over the years about whether all of the requirements in a given water quality permit are specifically required by federal law or whether they impose ad ditional requirements from the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Housing, Homelessness and Local Government

Oct 22, 2025 - The approved tax credits do not entail any budgetary costs in 2025-26 because the credits will be claimed on future tax returns. Reverts a Total of $38  Million in Unspent Housing Funds. The budget reverts these funds, which were originally appropriated in a prior fiscal year but had not yet been spent on projects, as a General Fund solution.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5082

Sheriff Court-Security Services Mandate

May 27, 2016 - LAO Comments Sheriff Court-Security Services Mandate Would Be Added to Backlog. Under the Governor ’s proposal, county costs related to this mandate would be added to the existing backlog for mandate claims.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3478

Post Election Manual Tally Mandate

Jan 13, 2016 - LAO Comments Post Election Manual Tally Mandate Would Be Added to Backlog. Under the Governor ’s proposal, county costs related to this mandate would be added to the existing backlog for mandate claims.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3327

The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandates—Regional Water Quality Control Boards

May 30, 2025 - No Future Costs Anticipated for These Particular Mandates … The three municipal stormwater mandates discussed in this post are not anticipated to result in ongoing costs for the state. This is because beginning January 1, 2018, local governments have had sufficient fee authority to cover their costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5054

The 2019-20 May Revision: Opportunity Zones

May 11, 2019 - This added complexity could create increased administrative burdens for builders, lenders, and government agencies tasked with funding affordable housing. Added complexity also could open the possibility of unintended consequences or misuse of funds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4038

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Crosscutting Issues

Apr 5, 2022 - Costs for cities and counties might include adding drainage to roads to manage more intense rain events, or modifying water treatment plants located along the coast to accommodate higher sea levels. …And Private Residents and Businesses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4575

The 2016-17 Budget: Local Government Mandates--Reasonable Reimbursement Methodology

Mar 17, 2016 - To address the administration ’s concerns regarding potential overstatements of costs, the Legislature could consider targeted alternatives. For example, the Legislature could consider adding an audit requirement for a sample of the claims used for an RRM.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3395

The 2020-21 Budget: U-Visa I-918 Form Mandate

Mar 4, 2020 - The Commission found that Penal Code Section 679.10 —as added by Chapter  721 —imposes new state-mandated activities and costs on local governments by requiring local governments to complete certification documents within specified deadlines, and to submit annual reports about the certifications to the Legislature.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4192

The 2018-19 Budget: County Assessor Funding

Feb 15, 2018 - To determine if existing employees experienced a change in productivity, DOF would compare the value added by existing employees during years the county receives SSCAP funding to a baseline year (2017 ‑18).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3756