Although San Benito County is facing sizable cuts in funding
because of the state’s budget battle, local officials said they do
not expect to get hit as hard as other counties have.
Although San Benito County is facing sizable cuts in funding because of the state’s budget battle, local officials said they do not expect to get hit as hard as other counties have.
The revised state budget proposal submitted by Gov. Gray Davis earlier this month will not be as fiscally severe as some of his earlier proposed cuts would have been if they were enacted, officials such as County Administrative Officer Gil Solorio said.
“The May revise is friendlier than expected but still worrisome in that both General Fund and non-General Fund departments may be forced to accommodate a significant reduction in revenue,” Solorio said.
One of those reductions has already resulted in the county’s Department of Community Services and Workforce Development moving to eliminate six full-time positions.
However, Davis’ revised budget proposal also has some measures that could save the county a considerable amount of money, including a move not to eliminate the Williamson Act. That action could save the county an estimated $750,000.
The Williamson Act, passed in 1965, subsidizes farmers and ranchers and protects farm and ranch land from development.
But officials said while the governor proposes saving the Williamson Act, he is also promoting a change in the way vehicle license fees are disbursed.
“There is some not-so-sleight of hand going on,” Solorio said.
Several years ago, when the state Legislature approved a reduction in vehicle license fees, it also agreed to pay counties for the revenue lost from the reduced fees through a process called “backfilling.” Davis suggests in his recent budget proposal that the state pay a total of $1 to the backfill account for all 58 counties in the state.
At the same time, Davis’ proposal calls for increasing vehicle license fees. If the increase is enacted, there would be a grace period during which counties would not receive any of the vehicle license fee funding. The change would cost San Benito County an estimated $600,000.
The loss of funding, which supplements a variety of local services, would have to be made up from the county’s General Fund.
“In other words, if the May revise is enacted as written, the counties would not receive backfill for however long the grace period lasts,” Solorio said.
With that in mind, county officials are drafting a budget with a very conservative financial outlook over the next fiscal year, not expecting any financial help from the state.
“”We’re attempting to fashion a budget that would address the severity of the economic conditions, so that if need be our reserves can sustain us for as long as possible,” Solorio said.
