New study finds San Bernardino County seceding from California ‘unnecessary’ and ‘unlikely’

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) — When San Bernardino County voters narrowly approved EE in 2022, it authorized the county to consider seceding from California if the region was not receiving its fair share of state resources.

It turns out that yes.

This week, county officials released the results of a study by Blue Sky Consulting Group that found the county receives 9% more state funding per person than other counties in the state.

“In most cases, it shows that San Bernardino County is getting its fair share on average,” said Curt Hagman, 4th District Supervisor. “The truth is in the numbers, and we’re able to show that in most cases, about 50 percent of the time, we’re getting our fair share as a percentage of the population, and maybe a little more as a percentage of the population.”

However, Hagman said the report also identified several areas where the county NO getting their fair share of state funding, including for colleges, social housing and homeless solutions. He said outdated state formulas that prioritize money for larger cities are partly to blame.

“We don’t get our fair share of homelessness in the county because the formula they use is based on large cities,” Hagman said. “So even though we’re the sixth largest city in California by population, we don’t get it because we don’t have a city with a population of over 300,000.

“So now we have the information to go to our state representatives and say, ‘Hey, maybe it’s time to update this formula and make it relevant to today’s realities.'”

According to the Blue Sky study, “tax revenue generated in San Bernardino County is likely less than half of that generated statewide.

“San Bernardino County is no exception, as many counties (especially off-coast counties where residents earn less) receive more in state transfers than they pay in state taxes.”

“As a result, revenues available to fund state-supported services would be significantly reduced” if the county seceded from the state of California.

Hagman said this means there is likely no chance of secession, however unlikely it may seem.

“Secession is not in our best interest right now,” he said. “First of all, we can’t do it locally. It would take the state and federal government to come in and do it. But now we’re informed; we’re informed leaders and we know how to advocate for the resources that we lack in the county.”