LAKEPORT — Funding reductions and other financial impacts felt by the judicial branch because of the 2011-12 state budget could affect courthouse projects in a number of jurisdictions statewide, including Lake County.
“We are working in any way that we can to keep these projects moving forward,” Teresa Ruano, a spokesperson for the state”s Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), said.
One budget provision calls for $310 million originally anticipated for the Immediate and Critical Needs Account of the State Court Facilities Construction Fund to instead go into the state”s General Fund.
Portions of judicial branch fees, fines and penalties had been designated into the account during the past several years to help fund courthouse projects. Lake County was among 41 projects statewide developed to address the “immediate and critical need” for new or renovated court facilities in 34 counties.
Some funds will remain in the Immediate and Critical Needs account, but the amount and its potential uses are currently undetermined, Ruano said.
The budget also reduces judicial branch funding by $150 million, which Ruano said was in addition to an already-anticipated $200 million reduction.
The Judicial Council of California will meet on July 22 to discuss allocations to the judicial branch for the current fiscal year in light of the $350 million reduction and the $310 million being placed in the General Fund.
Ruano said for the time being it is difficult to gauge how courthouse projects will be affected during the current fiscal year. “We really don”t know at this point,” she said.
The plan could involve delays until “hopefully the following fiscal year,” Ruano said, adding that issues will become clearer after the Judicial Council meeting later this month.
Lake County”s current courthouse on North Forbes Street in Lakeport ranks among the most poorly equipped in the state, according to the AOC.
The AOC has been approved to acquire land on Lakeport Boulevard on which the proposed two-story, nearly 50,000-square-foot new courthouse will sit. The acquisition has not been finalized as the AOC continues to hash out the details of a memorandum of understanding with the city, Ruano said.
The Lake County project is in the middle of the yearlong preliminary architectural design phase, and though the initial stage is running slightly behind schedule, the county”s project has advanced more than many others, according to Ruano.
“Lake is further along than a lot of them,” she said, pointing out that many projects have not received land acquisition approval.
For now, work on the preliminary design phase continues and won”t stop “until decisions are made (by the Judicial Council),” Ruano said. The architectural design phase was slated to end in early 2012, a date that could be pushed out in light of the budget.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
