LAKE COUNTY — County and city officials said they are relatively happy with the state”s latest budget proposal, which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday said he would veto. A two-thirds legislative majority is needed to override a gubernatorial veto.
“Overall it”s close to what we had anticipated in our final budget ? 10-percent reductions,” Lake County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said.
As proposed, Cox said the budget does not cut an estimated $1.4 million of state funding for county roads and transportation, and it leaves the county”s taxpayer-fueled general fund alone. He said what he wasn”t counting on was a reduction in redevelopment money. According to an estimate from the California Redevelopment Association, Lake County will lose $158,000 in redevelopment funding.
“It”s an easy place for them to hit. What they will do is require the funds to be transferred to schools, which in effect relieves the state from providing funding to schools,” Cox said. According to state estimates, redevelopment agencies statewide would lose $350 million if the proposed budget passes.
A 0.6-percent cost-of-living adjustment proposed for educators would translate to an average revenue increase of $38 per student throughout the county, according to Lake County Office of Education Financial Director Michelle Buell. The budget also lifts a previously proposed 6.5-percent cut on categorical funds.
“Unfortunately, school districts will need to be ultraconservative and maintain reserve balances to help them to prepare for the uncertainties that seem to have been shifted to the 2009-10 fiscal year,” Buell said.
Cox, who is also the Lake County Redevelopment Agency director, said the cut to the agency”s funding will not affect projects under way, including the Clearlake Oaks Plaza, Third Street Plaza in Lucerne and revitalization of Upper Lake”s Main Street. The unexpected reduction will slow down the process and make it difficult to take on new projects, according to Cox.
The Lakeport Redevelopment Agency would lose an estimated $64,000 of state funding under the proposed budget. Richard Knoll, the city”s redevelopment director, estimated that number represents approximately 10 percent of the cost for the city”s Third Street and City Hall parking lot project, or two and a half storefront revitalization projects.
“It doesn”t have any effect on current projects,” Knoll said.
Cox said he can live with the currently proposed cuts, but he”s not ready to breathe easy given the fact that the budget isn”t yet signed and his concerns that the state”s fiscal crisis was not adequately addressed.
“I”m concerned that they didn”t deal with the structural deficit, and that puts a cloud over our finances for another year,” Cox said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
