The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements [Publication Details]

Feb 20, 2026 - The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements [Publication Details] Translate Our Website This Google ™ translation feature provided on the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) website is for informational purposes only.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5133

The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements

Feb 20, 2026 - The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements The 2026-27 Budget How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements Recent stock market performance continues to boost income tax collections. In our Fiscal Outlook , we strongly advised the Legislature to treat near-term strength in tax collections as temporary because we expect these gains to reverse.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5133

The 2022-23 Budget: State Appropriations Limit Implications

Mar 30, 2022 - (As of 2018 ‑19, cities and counties had over $150  billion in collective room under their limits. As a result, changing this definition is unlikely to result in very many local governments exceeding their limits.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4583

The Definition of Qualified Capital Outlay for the State Appropriations Limit

Feb 18, 2022 - If the homes were scattered throughout a city, however, we think the argument is more tenuous. For this reason, in the case of vehicles, we think a vehicle represents an asset —not a fleet —and so the value of an individual vehicle must exceed $100,000 in order to count as an exclusion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4547

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - Because of how sensitive California ’s revenues are to stock market performance, the Governor ’s approach yields a revenue estimate that is $30  billion above that of our office. Regardless of the revenue assumption used in the 2026-27 budget, both our office and the Governor ’s Department of Finance (DOF) agree that the state faces large structural deficits.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

Flexible Funding to California in the American Rescue Plan

Mar 23, 2021 - Cities and counties will receive fiscal recovery funds based on a set of formulas that considers the jurisdiction ’s population, among other factors. The federal government will distribute funds directly to all counties and cities with populations greater than 50,000.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4407

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk [Publication Details]

Jan 23, 2026 - In this installment of Fiscal Perspectives, the Legislative Analyst describes how the LAO’s revenue estimates represent a hedge against downside stock market risk and why—despite current cash trends—caution matters given the state’s large, ongoing structural deficit.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5104

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - This analogy can be easily extended to the state ’s reserve policy, which can fluctuate from year to year but should be constructed by examining a very long ‑time horizon in order to facilitate the stable provision of  services.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

The 2020-21 Budget: Overview of the California Spending Plan (Final Version)

Oct 5, 2020 - Specifically, the budget makes $ 130  m illion available for cities with populations of 300, 000 o r more, $ 90  m illion available for CoCs, and $ 80  m illion available for counties. To receive funds, the eligible entities must provide a plan to the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council describing how they have coordinated, and will continue to coordinate, with other local agencies to address homelessness in their region.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4263

Federal Spending in California

Jan 18, 2017 - Federal Spending in California Federal Spending in California Federal Expenditures to Local Governments In this post, we describe the federal funding paid directly and indirectly to California local governments —excluding schools —and how those funds are used.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3531/5