Local officials pleased with some budget decisions
As California lawmakers finally agreed on a package of spending cuts to help close its $26.4 billion budget deficit, Yuba-Sutter officials declared their counties made out as well as could be expected during the worst recession in 70 years.
"It has been nonstop negotiating warfare, but we'll have to do the right thing and make responsible decisions — and they're gonna have to be tough decisions," said Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, minutes after the Assembly passed most of a 30-bill package to cut some $15 billion in state spending.
Earlier Friday, the package squeaked through the state Senate 27-13 after an all-night session.
The cutbacks would cover 60 percent of California's budget shortfall, and state raids on county funds will cover most of the balance. But Assembly members rejected one such taking — a plan to take more than $1 billion of gas tax revenues from local governments — and local lawmakers called this their chief victory of the budget talks.
Though the state would have been required to repay the transportation funds and interest within three years, lawmakers feared surrendering the money would have virtually halted road maintenance in smaller, underfunded rural counties.
"My main concern was the guys out laying asphalt on our streets and highways wouldn't have had the funding to support their staff," said Randy Margo, Yuba County's assistant administrator, who said the road-fund takings would have chopped $1.7 million out of the county's $3 million roads budget this fiscal year.
A lesser-known boon for farming counties was preserving the Williamson Act, said Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber. The state program has given farm owners property tax breaks in exchange for not developing land, but had faced extinction until lawmakers agreed on a one-time 20 percent cut in payouts in fiscal 2010.
Despite those local victories, the prospect of a continuing recession — and stagnant tax revenue — still hovered over officials wary of declaring victory over the budget crisis. Though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier warned legislators against deferring the budget gap to future years, the budget cut package includes a nominal $1.1 billion "savings" by pushing a state payday from late June to early July, the first month of fiscal 2011.
"I think everyone agrees the budget is balanced precariously because of all the money being borrowed, all the one-time adjustments being made," said Margo. "Right off the bat, there's a $9 billion deficit (next year)."
Until the economy recovers, only conservative spending and ample reserves can protect local governments, said Sutter County Supervisor Jim Whiteaker.
"We've always prepared for the worst," he said, calling the county's reported $52.5 million of reserves as its chief shield. "We've always maintained we should be ready for the big shortfall. Our message to other counties has been that doomsday is coming."
Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com.
