Supervisors approve proposed budget

Auburn - On Tues., June 8, 2010, the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved a proposed budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year. It will serve as an interim spending plan until the Board adopts a final budget in September.

The proposed $739 million budget is 5.7 percent smaller than the 2009-10 Final Budget of $783 million.

Most of that reduction, however, is because last year, the county's budget included funds restricted for capital improvement projects now completed or almost completed, such as the interchange at Sunset Boulevard over Highway 65, and from continued progress on projects such as the South Placer Correctional Facility. The decline in the operating budget is less than one percent, while the capital projects budget is 15.6 percent less.

Several of Placer County's key revenue sources are down significantly. Between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Fiscal Year budgets, sales taxes are down 18 percent, while secured property taxes and in-lieu property taxes are each down five percent. Public safety sales taxes are down 10 percent. However some intergovernmental revenues tied to Health and Human Services increased, primarily due to the impact of federal stimulus funds.

During the past several years, Placer County has balanced its budget by significant cost reductions and constrained operational costs. As part of the county's efforts to protect vital services, funds have been redirected from other programs to pay for critical health and human services and public safety programs. As employees have left county service or retired, their positions have usually not been refilled. These hiring restrictions have reduced the number of staff by about 10 percent (280 fewer employees) since fall of 2007.

The county's proposed 2010-11 fiscal year budget continues this pattern, with hiring restrictions, five work furlough days to cut costs, and also includes minimal use of reserves ($4.5 million).

Source: Placer County