The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved reductions and other actions totaling $17.1 million to balance the county's budget for the fiscal year ending June 2009.
The board supported the recommendation of Acting County Executive Gary Graves, who proposed a number of cuts to follow-up on changes that have taken place since the budget was adopted last June. The lion's share was $13 million in reductions. The primary cuts were in the health area ($7.8 million) and $3 million in social services. The remainder of the cuts affected public safety agencies and planning and development.
"This is the first step of a long process to develop our 2010 budget," said Supervisor Don Gage, who represents South County. "We will have many discussions over the next six months before we adopt the final budget."
Tuesday's action also launched the early planning for the coming fiscal year that begins next July. Acting County Executive Gary Graves described it as good news/bad news.
"The good news is that our anticipated deficit for Fiscal Year 2010 will be $220 million, not the $320 million we expected," he said. "The bad news is that we will have to address a staggering $220 million deficit."
Graves stressed the need to move toward reducing one-time budget solutions, a strategy used in recent years to minimize the impact of budget cuts, while waiting for the economy to rebound. Since 2003, the county has made nearly $500 million in budget reductions. The other budget balancing techniques included: use of reserves, use of one-time funds, modifying financial policies, increasing fees, and reimbursements. These cumulative strategies total $1.2 billion.
Timeline for Developing 2010 Budget
January - Multi-year Forecast to Board
February 10 - Mid-Year Budget for 2009 and Updated 2010 Projection to Board
February 20 - Departmental Reduction Plans due to Acting County Executive
March - Budget Review Meetings with Acting County Executive
May 4 -Recommended Budget to Board of Supervisors
May 12-14 - Board Budget Workshops
June 15-17, 19 - Board Budget Hearings
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