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Supervisors Face Grim Budget Picture, Rising Benefit Costs
Santa Barbara County’s budget — and statewide implications — will be at the top of the agenda when the Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday.
The supervisors will consider a report on the governor’s proposed 2010-11 budget and the effects it could have on the county budget.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted his proposed budget in January and projected a $20 billion deficit through the end of the fiscal year — an amount some people have voiced as too optimistic.
Much of the governor’s current budget relies on funding or flexibility from the federal government. If the feds neglect to provide that relief, residents could feel deep cuts on the state and county levels.
A transportation tax could be in the works, as well as ballot initiatives that propose dipping into mental health funds to address the budget.
In addition to looking at the state budget, the supervisors will look at the county’s own budget forecast.
According to staff reports, the upcoming fiscal year’s budget gap stems mostly from a growth in expenditures. To maintain current staffing levels, the county would need to shell out nearly $39 million in additional costs. Staff salaries would increase $14 million, and employee benefits would increase $25 million.
The most significant component of the benefits increase would come from maintaining the current level of retirement benefits — about $20 million. Decreasing revenues also are expected in the next year.
Tuesday will be the first in a series of budget workshops, aptly named “Defining the Problem,” for the 2010-11 fiscal year. The next session, looking at potential service effects, will be Feb. 22.
According to staff reports, county departments are in the process of developing budget requests, and the workshops are designed to help guide the process.
The board will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Board Hearing Room in the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy. in Santa Maria.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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» on 02.08.10 @ 11:31 PM
The rest of us who pay taxes have had to make deep cuts in our homes and business. Now finally government the very people we support must make cuts like you and I. A 50% reduction in staff and wages would be a great start..
Union puppets—Farr-Wolf and carbajal—all need to go—-unions and trial layers have paid them off..bad for the tax payers..
» on 02.09.10 @ 02:06 AM
All 5 supervisors, including Gray and Centeno, support the unions that have by far the highest benefits… safety employees including Deputies and Firefighters. They get to retire at 50 with 90% salary benefits.
» on 02.09.10 @ 07:44 AM
The county has only a few more months to suffer under the reign of Mike Brown—in terms of puppets- he is king- a puppet of COLAB and other anti-public service pioneers.
Can’t wait.
» on 02.09.10 @ 08:59 AM
A meeting to define the problem?
Hwre’s a definition: The problem is you promised too much and you spend too much.
We need answers not more definitions. Such as reforming the pensions the same way private industry has. Either by a two tier system for pay and benifits for new hires or by letting the system go bankrupt and then reorganizing. The rest is playing with the icing while the cake crumples.
» on 02.09.10 @ 10:04 AM
The public employees unions are breaking the city, the county, the state, and our nation. Their salaries used to be twice a low as the private sector, now they’re twice as high. Their benefit packages cost millions to pay for. Yet there is nothing to stop them. They buy votes. Many retire on questionable disabilities, getting even more benefits. Someone should do a study on the amount of sick time or disability time logged by our ‘no touch’em” firefighters. Nobody works the system like they do.
» on 02.09.10 @ 10:26 AM
This train has been driving toward the cliff for years and the Supervisors continue to give more salary, benefits and pensions.
Will they do something this year? Only if they can not figure out a way to raise our taxes/fees. To cover the benefit and pension increases for P&D they raised fees 17% from $152/hr to $182/hr last month (after a similar large increase last year).
What’s next - If it is legal I bet they will start charging processing fees to send out our property tax bills.
» on 02.09.10 @ 12:53 PM
FY09-10 salaries were $293M. with salaries projected to go up $14M this year for the same staffing level this would represent a 4.7% increase. Imaging this when everyone has had pay cuts.
In FY09-10 benefits and retirement were a whooping $102M adding $39M you get an outlandish 38% increase.
It does not take a very long meeting to see what needs to be done. Just cutting people is not going to work without restructuring benefit and retirement plans.
» on 02.09.10 @ 03:43 PM
The days of sleep overs need to end—Hey overtime kings we now have a thing called a telephone and computor—so we dont need the overtime-or sleep on the job employee’s anymore—40 hour weeks only and thats it..
No more getting paid to go to the store for food??what a joke..
Unions dont care about waste..who works for whom..break the unions in government..
» on 02.09.10 @ 04:45 PM
publius has his facts a little skewed. Public safety retirees are eligible to retire after 20 years of service, although most wait until they are 55 to do so because at this juncture they receive 3% for each year of service. Therefore, if one were to begin his/her public safety career at 25 years of age, that person would indeed receive 90% of salary at 55.
As for 8 hour shifts, that would be fine, however the cost of reducing the work week to 40 or 48 hours is pretty expensive, All firefighters in Santa Barbara County work a 56 hours work week, And, yes, those 56 hours do include sleep (at times)
I would gladly continue to work past 55 myself if I hadn’t sacrificed my lungs, both hips and back to the service of our constinuency.
» on 02.09.10 @ 05:30 PM
What about 150% of the average of your last 5 years? I understand it is easy to do.
My understanding is the way the game works is for a nominal fee you can buy more retirement years than you actually worked (retiring at 50 at 90% can easily happen). Retirement income is based on the highest year income no averaging required. Therefore you can save up your vacation and work lots of overtime in a single year and you that year to calculate your retirement. In addition supervisors are normally glad to help out by giving a promotion in the last couple years to increase the retirement income even more.
I know this from family members that brag about the great deal they have as a firefighter. I might have some facts slightly wrong but I think this is basically how it works.
The guys on the front line do face physical issues, but there are lots of desk jobs they can work until they are say 65. And then there are the full time desk works that also get great retirement benefits ..
» on 02.10.10 @ 10:26 AM
The problem is we can’t afford you, let alone your generous benefits. We are broke and unemployed. The government you work for has, at the voter’s request, chased all the wealth generating industry out of town in the name of “preservation” or “environmentalism”. This seemed ok while the real-estate bubble was growing and it seemed China would lend us all the money for feel good stuff we wanted. We could retire early, play with toys and vacuum our empty consciences with loads of unfunded feel good programs. But all that is over now. The big piggy banks are foreclosing our homes and the factory is shuttering the doors and all that feel good crap is just that now, crap. You may have sacrificed for the residence here but they did not foresee this coming and now we are broke there is no money for your retirement because those of us paying for it have no more money. Hate to put it so harshly, but when you are homeless, jobless and see no future for yourself or family its rather hard to sympathize with your plight. Maybe Pedro the job killer might be able to help you now. No, I don’t think he will be around much longer. Nor will any of the other liars, cheats and thieves we so willingly elected.
Yep, starvation and exposure to the elements has a way of prioritizing your list of things that are important. Guess what Santa Barbara County, your benefits packages are dead last on our lists.
» on 02.14.10 @ 07:45 AM
What a bunch of winers
Weather: Fair 46.0º
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