Since its inception in 1992, the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund ("ERAF") has fundamentally altered the financial landscape for California’s local public agencies. What began as a temporary state budget fix has redirected billions of local property tax dollars away from special districts, cities, and counties to fund the state’s General Fund obligations to schools.

While we all understand the general burden ERAF imposes, CARPD is launching a comprehensive data collection project to quantify the exact, cumulative financial impact of these shifts since day one. To do this effectively, we need your help.

We have developed a standardized, template Public Records Act request designed to pull historical ERAF allocation and shift data directly from county auditors. By gathering this data statewide, we will be able to build a definitive dataset demonstrating exactly how much local revenue has been redirected away from frontline community services over the last three decades.

How You Can Participate (It Takes Less Than 10 Minutes):

1. Download the Template: Click the link below to download the pre-drafted Public Records Act request template.
2. Fill in Your Details: Insert your agency’s name and your local county information into the highlighted fields.
3. Submit to Your County: Send the completed request to your County Auditor-Controller’s office.
4. Share the Results: Once you receive the historical data back from your county, forward the records to our Executive Director, Matthew Duarte, at mduarte@capri-jpa.gov.

 

Template - ERAF Public Records Act Request.docx

 

Quantifying the true, long-term impact of ERAF is critical for our ongoing education and advocacy efforts. When we speak to state lawmakers, having precise, agency-level data allows us to show the real-world cost of these property tax shifts on local parks, recreation, and essential infrastructure.

Thank you for your leadership and for taking a few minutes to help us secure this vital data for our industry. If you have any questions about the template or the process, please do not hesitate to reach out.