San Benito County officials said Gov. Gray Davis’ proposed $10.2
billion in cuts to the state budget will hurt local services. But
they’re not sure how much.
San Benito County officials said Gov. Gray Davis’ proposed $10.2 billion in cuts to the state budget will hurt local services. But they’re not sure how much.
County Administrative Officer Gil Solorio said the county is looking at several contingency plans that could be put to use when the budget ax falls this spring.
Solorio said officials cannot implement any plans because the state has not determined where the cuts will come from or how much they will be.
Solorio said Davis is allowing various agencies to debate among themselves for funding that remains after the budget cuts are approved.
“It is amazing to me how the governor is trying to deal with it,” Solorio said. “It’s like putting $10 billion on a soup bone and throwing it to a pack of wild dogs.”
The county’s best move is to not make any big changes with the local budget until officials have a better idea of how much will be cut.
“The answer isn’t going to come tomorrow or next week, so it would be ill advised of me to consider laying off people without knowing more,” Solorio said. “Unless they have a road map in place, I’m going to be driving blind.”
The county will try to maintain its current fiscally conservative policies, Solorio said.
“But that has been the norm for the Board all along,” he said. “The way the governor is dealing with this leads me to think any direct action right now would be premature.”
On Dec. 6, Davis proposed cutting $10.2 billion over the next 18 months, including $3.1 billion from public schools and $2 billion from welfare and health care programs. Davis has asked lawmakers to act by the end of January on those cuts, which include about $3.4 billion from the current $98.9 billion state budget and savings and cuts of almost $7 billion in the coming budget year that begins July 1.
Davis will submit his 2003-04 budget on Jan. 10 and hinted that it would include tax increases and possibly a vehicle license fee increase.
“We may well have a balanced approach to this problem, but we’re in the middle of the budget process,” Davis said during a recent television interview.
A variety of advocacy groups have endorsed or called for higher taxes to spare their sources of government money.
A coalition of local governments proposed increasing the state’s vehicle license fee to its 1998 level, which would raise nearly $4 billion for the next fiscal year. The average cost is now $64 a year but that could jump to more than $148 per vehicle.
Also, a 5-cent fee per drink on alcoholic beverages – including wine, beer and spirits – has been proposed with the estimated $500 million from the tax going to emergency rooms and trauma centers.
