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Veteran Municipal Attorney Michael Colantuono on Local Finance and California’s Broken Fiscal Compact
2025 Dana Choi 2025 Dana Choi

Veteran Municipal Attorney Michael Colantuono on Local Finance and California’s Broken Fiscal Compact

Long-time city attorney Michael Colantuono reflects on California’s enduring state–local fiscal dysfunction and legislature usurpation of local control. From a recent “bullet dodged” by local government to the legacy of Prop 13, Colantuono traces decades of underfunding by the State of local government, legislative overreach, and judicial decisions that have hamstrung localities' ambitions.

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