Surprising Number of Small Population California Counties

Under a measure signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in March, the state Controller and state Treasurer were given more power to defer and delay payments to various entities, such as public schools.

The idea was to manipulate the state’s cash flow to avoid IOUs like those issued last summer or halting loans to hundreds of public works projects pending sale of future bonds to cover construction costs.

The measure, ABX8 5, exempts state payments to California counties with populations of 50,000 or less and the cities within them.

There are 15 of the Golden State’s 58 counties with populations of 50,000 or less. Those counties are:

Alpine — Population 1,201

Amador — Population 38,080

Calavaras – Population 45,987

Colusa – Population 21,997

Del Norte – Population 29,547

Glenn – Population 29,239

Inyo – Population 18,049

Lassen – Population 35,550

Mariposa – Population 18,306

Modoc – Population 9,698

Mono – Population 13,504

Plumas – Population 20,632

Sierra – Population 3,358

Siskiyou – Population 45,973

Trinity – Population 13,959

(Population figures from the state Department of Finance.)

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