The San Benito County Board of Supervisors chewed over spending
proposals Monday and Tuesday before approving a $73 million final
budget that uses reserves and wide-ranging cuts to avoid
significant program losses and layoffs for the 2004-05 fiscal
year.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors chewed over spending proposals Monday and Tuesday before approving a $73 million final budget that uses reserves and wide-ranging cuts to avoid significant program losses and layoffs for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
Contrary to budget recommendations made from a board subcommittee in May, supervisors, as expected, didn’t slash any community programs like 4-H and veterans services.
The only county department to take a severe hit will be the Marshal’s Office, which will have its lowest budget since Marshal Robert Scattini took office in 1988.
Spending allocated to fire protection will dip by $160,000 – as broached in a proposed budget – meaning the Beaver Dam department in Paicines will have to close for winter months. And each department will have to get by with as little capital and supplies as it can.
Much like the city of Hollister, San Benito got through this year primarily by spreading the pain among its departments and using savings built up over prior, more fiscally sound years. And much like Hollister, county officials are wary of the coming years, yet hopeful for a recovery to the statewide economy.
“In future years we’re going to have difficulty until the economy changes,” Vrtis told the board Monday.
For now, both governments’ healthy reserves – San Benito had $22 million in reserve before this fiscal year – avoided a level of cuts that would drastically affect public services.
San Benito will use $1.75 million in general fund reserves to balance its budget, along with about $3.2 million that had been set aside for unpredictable expenses – but was never used – from last year’s budget.
The rest of a once estimated $8 million gap was closed through a close scrutiny – and several rounds of ensuing cuts – by management and department heads, according to County Administrative Officer Dan Vrtis.
Looking ahead, officials this week expressed a need to increase revenues in the coming years to offset rising costs.
As part of the 2004-05 budget:
– The county allocated $40,000 to fund a study of countywide fees, which could lead to rate increases for many services.
– Vrtis emphasized the county must address its out-of-balance fire protection budget, currently contracted out to the California Department of Forestry. The county’s general fund has to supplement $263,000 toward fire protection this year.
– And San Benito is continuing an examination of other counties’ public defenders’ offices – to potentially change how San Benito provides the service locally.
Currently, San Benito contracts with attorney Greg LaForge for public defense at a cost of $260,000. But when he has conflicts of interest, he has to refer clients to other attorneys, the cost of which often adds up. Officials want to avoid those additional costs, which usually total more than the contract awarded to LaForge. This year the county budgeted $365,000 for “conflict attorneys.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean the county wants to end its relationship with LaForge, Vrtis said.
“If we can provide a greater level of service at a reduced cost, then that’s something we need to look at,” Vrtis said.
While LaForge must wait to see what San Benito does with his role, Scattini, the marshal, said he was a “victim of circumstances” after the board’s slashing of his budget. The Marshal’s Office budget dropped from $175,000 last year to $48,000 this year – though much of that decline comes from the transfer of his deputy to the Sheriff’s Department.
He claimed Supervisor Richard Scagliotti has a “personal vendetta” against him and wanted to close his office.
But Scattini said Scagliotti couldn’t shut it down because that would require a vote of the public. So
Scattini believes he got the next worst thing – a slashed budget.
Scattini’s secretary, which he said acts more like an accountant and plays a crucial role in the office, will be cut back from a full-time to a part-time position. The board also cut his “services and supplies” by 52 percent.
Scattini was recently re-elected to another six-year term. He called the board’s action “a slap in the face for all the citizens in this county that voted me into office.”
“There’s no possible way I can run this office and produce the work I’ve been doing without a secretary,” he said.
