County officials estimate that property tax revenue will drop by
$800,000 this fiscal year and that it will decline by double that
the following year, and it might lead to such cost-cutting efforts
as furlough time for employees and elimination of coffee and
bottled water service.
HOLLISTER
County officials estimate that property tax revenue will drop by $800,000 this fiscal year and that it will decline by double that the following year, and it might lead to such cost-cutting efforts as furlough time for employees and elimination of coffee and bottled water service.
Whether this trend of decreased property tax revenues will continue is hard to predict, County Assessor Tom Slavich said. “It depends on how fast the market rebounds.”
He added that the state is estimating a negative growth of property tax revenue amounting to 6 percent this year, 3 percent next year and 1 percent the following year. If that estimate holds true, it will take three years to get positive assessment growth, Slavich said.
The county is looking at a similar estimated schedule for reduced property tax revenue. Slavich said that the projections for assessment declines might be greater here than the state average.
“I think (San Benito County) will follow the state trends, maybe a little bit more,” Slavich said. “There will be more of a negative growth than the state average.”
According to the assessor’s 2008 annual report, the total county taxable value, excluding utilities, is $6.7 billion. For the previous year, the total taxable value was $6.8 billion, which is “almost a one percent decrease,” Slavich said.
County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson told supervisors last week the negative trend this year likely will continue into the next fiscal year. She told board members she plans to look into potential savings wherever the county can.
Thompson suggested in her status report that county employees take unpaid furlough time and offered other ideas to cut costs for departments, including eliminating coffee and bottled water service and decommissioning some of the county fleet vehicles. Those ideas could come up for further discussion at a later date.
Slavich said that last year, the county assessor’s office reduced around 3,000 properties’ assessed values, and it is looking to double that number of reductions this year.
“County revenue is going to be reduced from property tax evaluations,” he said.
Thompson said the county will be taking a more “surgical” approach to cutting the budget rather than with brute force.
“We are doing this with a scalpel, not a baseball bat,” she said. “If we do it with a baseball bat, we’ll be hurting ourselves in other areas.”
The county has a general fund reserve of $5.7 million that could be used in an emergency.
