Modesto Bee Article
By Tim Moran, Modesto Bee Staff Writer
last updated: January 28, 2009 10:40:40 AM
Jim DeMartini, Stanislaus County Supervisor
(Brian Ramsay/The Modesto Bee)
Times are tough, and they are likely to get worse before they get better, Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jim DeMartini said Tuesday.
Giving his State of the County address, DeMartini said the county's general fund could be facing a loss of $17.5 million in the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1. The losses will come from declining property tax and sales tax revenues and state budget cuts in public safety, farmland protection and vehicle license fees.
The $269 million general fund pays for public safety, parks and recreation, planning and community development, justice administration, tax assessment and collection and other services.
The county asked departments to cut 3 percent from their budgets this year and instituted layoffs and cuts in hours at the library and county clinics.
The funding decline in the coming fiscal year will lead to cuts in services to residents, DeMartini said after the speech. It may take longer to get property reassessed, parks may not be maintained as well and the planning department may be open to the public four hours a day instead of eight, he said.
"Every department will be expected to cut something out," DeMartini said.
In addition to the $17.5 million, the lack of a state budget may cause more pain. The state controller has told the county he won't authorize payments for state obligations after Sunday unless the Legislature and governor agree on a budget, DeMartini said, and that could cost the county millions of dollars.
County Chief Executive Officer Rick Robinson reported later in the meeting that the lack of a state budget could cost the county $2.5 million to $3.5 million in Community Services Agency funding, $230,000 at the district attorney's office and $478,000 at the Health Services Agency.
Retirement fund losses
DeMartini warned that the county faces challenges in maintaining adequate funds in the retirement system. The retirement fund has lost $500 million in the stock market collapse, and a recent actuarial audit indicated that the county may need to put millions more in the fund because of faulty actuarial assumptions, DeMartini said.
The county's residents are suffering as well, DeMartini said, with more than 54,000 people receiving food stamps and more than 117,000 getting Medi-Cal benefits. The number of people on food stamps has increased 25 percent in 15 months, and the number of Medi-Cal patients has risen 3 percent in 12 months.
People are losing home equity and retirement investments and retailers are closing, he said, meaning lost jobs and increasing social services costs.
"Home foreclosures are among the worst in the nation. In Patterson alone, one in every five homes is in default or foreclosure," DeMartini said.
The county has eliminated 200 full-time positions and 190 part-time positions in the past year in Child Support Services, the Building Department, the Health Services Agency, the library and other departments, DeMartini said. The county has 4,459 full-time positions.
"No one enjoys letting staff go," he said, "but we must take the necessary steps to meet this challenge."
In light of the cuts, the county will continue to focus on law enforcement and essential services, such as bond payments, jail staffing, health care for the very poor and funding the retirement system, DeMartini said.
DeMartini urged the supervisors to meet regularly with the mayors of the nine cities to work on regional issues.
"Planning, building infrastructure and creating jobs will happen a lot faster if we have a dialog with each other," he said.
Money for crime units
As the No. 1 industry in the county, agriculture needs to be protected, DeMartini, a farmer, said.
The Sheriff's Department has completed a decentralization project that puts deputies in regional offices in Riverbank, Waterford and Patterson, and the Hi-Tech Crime Unit will be moving to a larger space in the district attorney's office, DeMartini said. The county is seeking more money for the Hi-Tech unit and the real estate fraud unit.
The county's anticipated new animal shelter should be completed by December 2010, in partnership with several of the cities in the county, DeMartini said.
He also mentioned a couple of projects dear to the West Side, which he represents: A task force is working to improve health care facilities on the West Side, and the county continues to work on federal funding for the Orestimba Creek Flood Control Project.
DeMartini ended the address on a positive note:
"We also need to remember that while our circumstances are dire today, they will change for the better. No one likes bad times, but we will get through this, and our county and our neighborhoods and communities will recover," he said.
"Stanislaus County has known many hardships in the past, each time we have risen to the occasion, and there should be no doubt we will do so again."
Bee staff writer Tim Moran can be reached at
tmoran@modbee.com or 578-2349.
