LAKE COUNTY — Lake County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said with the state facing financial crisis, he”s more nervous this year than in years past as he prepares the county”s budget for hearings before the board of supervisors in mid-August.
“It would sure help if we had the state budget so we knew what the state was going to do. We”re still basing most of our budget assumptions on the governor”s budget proposal,” Cox said.
Overall, Cox said he doesn”t expect the county to go into the red no matter what happens at the state level. Currently, the county budget proposes close to $200 million in appropriations. He said $54 million of that is general fund money.
Cox said he is concerned about additional budget cuts, with talks among state legislators of suspending Prop. 1A, which protects government revenues, and Prop. 42, a transportation tax for road maintenance.
“The reductions being discussed in the state legislature would be much more severe than what the governor”s reductions would be on the county,” Cox said.
Prop. 1A, approved by voters in November 2004, meant the state could not take money from county and city budgets unless it declared a fiscal emergency. Cox said if the state decides to suspend the proposition for this year”s state fiscal crisis, the money will eventually have to be paid back.
“Who knows how long that could take, and what do we do in the meantime? If we don”t have the money, we would have to reduce our budget,” Cox said.
Cox said it was too soon to speculate about where cutting might occur in the county budget if the budget Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed in his May revision is not adopted as-is.
One example of the state tightening its financial belt to address an estimated $17.2 billion deficit is a July 15 letter the county received from the California Department of Justice that says the state may start asking county and city governments to pay for forensic services, such as fingerprinting and toxicology reports for law enforcement investigations.
“If the governor signs the budget in its current form, the DOJ will be required to begin charging laboratory users a fee for forensic services. Although Attorney General Jerry Brown has opposed and will continue to oppose shifting these costs, we need to prepare for the implementation of a fee-for-service program in case it becomes law,” Chief of the Bureau of Forensic Services Jill Spriggs wrote in the letter.
Cox said based on last year”s expenses, the estimated annual cost to Lake County would be $261,588.
“We have never had to pay for that service ? the state has always provided it free of charge. That would be a huge hit on our budget,” Cox said.
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