Local cities buck the Sacramento money grab.

California's local governments want Sacramento to step off their funds.

That's the message of a signature-gathering campaign led by League of California Cities in response to the state's siphoning of $5 billion from counties and cities last year, nearly $20 million of it from Monterey County. 

The goal is to qualify the Local Taxpayers, Public Safety and Transporation Protection Act for the November state ballot. If passed, the initiative would bar the state from "borrowing, raiding or otherwise redirecting local government, transportation or public transit funds," according to the League's website.

Local mayors have hit the streets in a competition to collect the most signatures. Pacific Grove Mayor Carmelita Garcia and her crew topped the Monterey County ranks, with 393 signatures, while Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado came in second with 310. 

In total, Monterey Bay volunteers have collected almost 4,300 signatures since the petition drive began in January, the League reports, and volunteers statewide have gathered more than 82,000. Combined with the work of paid petitioners, proponents claim, the campaign has hit more than 1.1 million signatures.

The group expects to submit the the petitions to the state by April 26. The state will announce which propositions make the ballot in late June.