LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved the recommended county budget for the upcoming fiscal year during its regular meeting Tuesday.
The official 2011-12 county budget will be adopted later in the year after a public hearing, but Tuesday”s BOS approval allows the county to conduct its business once the fiscal year begins July 1, according to County Administrator Kelly Cox.
State law requires the county to approve the budget by June 30 and adopt the budget by early October.
A public hearing for budget adoption is scheduled for Sept. 7, but county staff hopes to conduct the hearings and adopt the budget before the end of August, a goal largely dependent upon the adoption of the state budget, Cox said.
County staff prepared “a very workable budget” that achieved several key goals, including minimizing negative impacts on service levels, preserving the county”s general fund and avoiding negative effects on county employees, Cox said.
The approved budget does not call for employee furloughs, pay reductions or significant layoffs, though several currently filled positions will be eliminated
A reorganization of the county”s code enforcement program will cause the elimination of four code enforcement officer positions as of Aug. 1. The one-time funding that originally helped create the program has expired, necessitating the eliminations, Cox said.
The reorganization would add two building inspector positions to the county”s building and safety program. The Community Development Department will seek certified building inspectors with code enforcement experience to fill the two positions, according to Cox.
A clerical position within the Lake County Probation Department will also be eliminated, a move that will preserve funding for the department”s highest priorities, Cox said.
Several vacant or soon-to-be-vacant positions were either unfunded or eliminated in the approved budget, Cox said.
The approved budget appropriates $185,202,064, with the general fund appropriation of just more than $52.1 million.
County staff drafted the recommended budget without knowing the property tax roll values for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget estimated a 5-percent decline in property tax revenues based on early projections from the county assessor, Cox said.
The final property tax figures could force adjustments to the approved budget, Cox said.
The state budget could also require county staff to modify the approved budget before final adoption this fall, Cox said, citing rumored proposals, such as criminal justice realignment and local redevelopment reform.
Cox told the BOS that the recommended budget provided funding for several capital projects, such as the library and senior center project in Middletown and a new Lake County Sheriff”s Office substation in the south county.
Staff also included funding for the potential acquisition of the Gard Street School in Kelseyville.
In April, the BOS considered the idea of the county purchasing the school property, which has an appraised value of $990,000, for the purpose of moving several county departments to the site. The BOS directed staff in April to continue pursuing the possible acquisition.
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington objected to the budget”s inclusion of funding for the possible school acquisition.
“I cannot and will not support using general fund monies to buy a $1 million piece of property that could require an additional $250,000 to $500,000 in remodeling to accommodate government staff,” he said.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said that supporting the recommended budget was not the same as supporting individual projects for which the budget provided funding.
Purchase agreements featuring large sums of money are presented to the BOS for final approval, and the allocations in the recommended budget would provide funding should such projects receive approval, according to Cox.
Farrington asked that the BOS consider the Gard Street School funding separately from the rest of the recommended budget, a request not supported by other Supervisors.
The BOS considered the entire recommended budget at one time, voting 4-1 to approve it. Farrington dissented, citing the Gard Street School issue.
“I specifically requested that the Board allow me to pull this line item out so that I can vote for the rest of the budget; however that request was not honored. Therefore, I had no choice but to vote ?no,” which is a shame. Given these dire fiscal times, overall this is a good budget, one that is ?structurally balanced,”” he said.
The BOS also unanimously passed a resolution establishing new classifications and position allocations to conform to the recommended budget.
The approved budget will be posted on the county”s website, beginning later this week.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
