This was an easy outcome to predict, and the city of Sunnyvale has been waiting for this decision for months. It was easy to predict because counties, cities and school districts all share two common political liabilities: We have no powerful vote and we don't make political contributions. As a result, we suffer at the hands of our state legislators, as does the average citizen.

It's a cynical game that the state plays, but it's one that they've played before. In order to make the state budget work, they will reduce the revenues to local government. This forces local governments to make substantial service reductions while minimizing the impact to state services. Schools and local government become the bad guys, forced to justify critical service reductions to their citizens while the state remains silently in the background.

A good example of this game is the announcement that the Agnews Developmental Center would be closed as part of the state budget "tightening." The argument presented is that operating the center costs more than any of the other centers around the state. While this may be true, the state hasn't explained how they are going to provide cheaper services by closing the center; they don't have to. The disabled individuals who currently depend on the services that the center provides will be dispersed into smaller facilities. Much of the needed services will become a responsibility of the county, which is not prepared to provide them. So they won't.

For those who do not have a friend or relative who relies on Agnews and consequently doesn't really care, rest assured that you won't be forgotten. As local governments tighten their belts, we will all feel the pain. The city of Sunnyvale is already beginning to look at which projects can be deferred and what services can be reduced. Next year's budget will not be pretty.

Those who think that local government is already bloated and feel that school districts are already getting their fair share, you have not been paying attention. The state has been doing these financial shell games for some time. When the governor reduced the vehicle license fee, or VLF, not too long ago, he was very careful to reduce the portion of the tax that went to the cities. He tried to rationalize the reduction by promising that he would backfill the loss to the cities from sales tax revenue. He took the credit for reducing your taxes but your city took the hit. Now he is taking that away as well, arguing that we all need to share the pain.

Unfortunately, assigning blame and responsibility doesn't solve the problem. There is still a roughly $35 billion budget shortfall that needs to be paid for. Unless the world as we know it goes through a wonderful transformation, you can be confident that whatever budget is adopted, it will be the taxpayer who pays with increased taxes or through reduced services.

The city of Sunnyvale will need your help on this one. You can help on the revenue side by remembering to shop in Sunnyvale. What little portion of the sales tax the city does get will be lost if you shop in another city. When the city prepares its annual budget this spring, we will have, as always, plenty of opportunity for public input. We need you to weigh in on what services can be cut and which projects can be deferred. Your city council can only represent you if you let them know what you think. Above all, we must think in terms of what is best for our community. Ben Franklin put it best: "We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately."

Jack Walker is a Sunnyvale City Council member.