I think a large part of California's issues come down to an inflationary spiral led by the absurd housing costs. I don't think it's unreasonable for city worke

I think a large part of California's issues come down to an inflationary spiral led by the absurd housing costs. I don't think it's unreasonable for city workers to want to be able to afford to live in the city that they work in. E.g. the average SF police officer should be able to afford to live in SF. What this has meant in practice though is that we keep giving city employees raises on raises on raises to keep up with housing costs which means everything else is crowded out and the long-term pension costs of these now inflated salaries is astronomical. If a 2-bedroom apartment were $1,500/month instead of $3,500/month, the 'fair' cost to a city worker would be much lower and by virtue our entire tax base could shrink. As they say though, wages are sticky in the downward direction, so even if California were to flip a switch and do a 180 with their housing policies, these costs will be with us for a very long time. Property tax reform paired with lowered income taxes would be a good first step though.