Total spending tops $116M; general fund expenses down
San Benito County supervisors this week approved a budget that
includes $116.3 million in spending and cuts general fund
expenditures by about $2.5 million compared with the prior fiscal
year.
Total spending tops $116M; general fund expenses down
San Benito County supervisors this week approved a budget that includes $116.3 million in spending and cuts general fund expenditures by about $2.5 million compared with the prior fiscal year.
As revenues have declined steeply in the down economy, the largest area of spending once again for the 2009/10 fiscal year is law enforcement.
The sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office, probation department and other areas – such as gang prevention funding – make up around 51 percent of all general fund costs, or $16.9 million, according to a budget summary.
County officials cut the budget for the general fund – comprised mostly of compensation for the 450 or so employees – largely through across-the-board pay concessions and by leaving 17.75 full-time positions unfilled, according to the budget document.
Though the overall, precise impact of the cuts on residents remains somewhat uncertain, the public will eventually notice such changes as fewer hours of operation at the San Benito County Free Library and closures to government offices on certain days when they previously had been open.
“Just some inconveniences,” said Supervisor Reb Monaco, when asked about the impact on residents, while noting how the library may be closed on Saturdays and some services will not be “available as consistently as they were.”
Aside from that, the biggest hit will be to employees. They will earn 5 percent less than previously anticipated – about half of them will earn the same compensation through anniversary “merit” increases – while likely taking on more work with fewer workers employed, on some level similar to trends in the private sector.
Overall, the furlough program knocks off about $1.4 million in spending, according to the report. Additionally, unions bypassed a 1 percent cost-of-living increase they were due, a concession resolved during recent negotiations over the pay cuts. That saved another $156,000, the budget report notes.
There were some other cost-cutting measures taken as well – such as the jail, juvenile hall and communications division employees agreeing to decrease their holiday pay, according to the budget. It is set to save another $135,000.
Among the few additional expenditures in the budget, the document does note as one of the “highlights” that supervisors agreed to allocate $60,000 toward an examination of Community Development Services, as requested by several local business organizations.
Supervisors approved this year’s budget Tuesday – it runs through June 31 – but Monaco surmised that it remains a “moving target. “We’re going to be dealing with this all year to make adjustments to the budget,” said the supervisor, pointing out how some state matters remain up in the air.
