On April 19, 2010 Interim Sacramento County Executive Steve Szalay and the executive board held a press conference to discuss the current budget for Sacramento County. The executive board consists of CEO Szalay, COO Nav Gill, Budget Officer Tom Burkart, and Municipal Service Directors Paul Hahn, Bruce Wagstaff and Mark Norris.
Sacramento County is facing an estimated $166 million shortfall in its general fund for the 2010-2011 budget. This represents a shortage of 34 percent. This is on top of a shortage of $90 million since the 2007- 2008 budget year. There are many factors involved in this deficit, including a reduction in property taxes collected and the state of California not meeting its obligations for reimbursing the county for required services.
During the next several weeks the executive board will be considering a host of alternatives for reducing the overall county budget requirements. The executive board will make its final recommendations at the budget hearings scheduled for the week of June 14.
“All aspects of services will get cuts” said Nav Gill, County Operations Officer.
CEO Szalay told reporters that the goal is to achieve equitable cuts and to find “new ways of doing business”.
He also said, ”We want a nimble organization that can change as it goes”. He expressed some regret that all of the hidden costs of the previous reductions were not fully considered and stated that during this round of reductions, the same mistake would not be made.
“There are hidden costs in these reductions”, he said. These hidden costs reduced the effectiveness of the previous year’s reductions.
One way of reducing costs that is being considered is turning over some of the county programs to qualified non-profit organizations. For example, the Effie Yeaw Nature Center could be turned over to a non-profit foundation. Senior and homeless programs could also receive the same treatment. These could result in significant savings for the county.
CEO Szalay also said that they are considering approximately 50 “efficiency projects” that could reduce costs, raise revenue, and improve services.
The biggest savings, though, will come from a reduction in work force and a corresponding reduction in services. These include reductions of $11 million in the district attorney’s office, $54.5 million from the sheriff and $28 million from the probation department. The current plan calls for a reduction of 723 positions of which 604 are filled. COO Gill said that these numbers will most likely be increased by the time the executive board makes it recommendations to the board of directors.
Since the 2008-09 fiscal year, the county has cut about $212.6 million from its budget and reduced county jobs by 1,500 positions.
Full details of the 2009-10 budget can be found at the Office of Budget and Debt Management website, as well as the preliminary plans for the 2010-11 budget. Hearings for the 2010-11 budget will be held beginning June 14. The fiscal year begins on July 1.
It was stressed several times during the press conference that these are preliminary recommendations only and that in all likelihood there will be increases in the proposals. There are many factors involved in this very complicated process. These include bargaining with various unions and variable retirement costs.