Sacramento County officials are counting on better days ahead.
At least that's their explanation for dipping into special funds and using $20 million in quick fixes to help patch a projected $181 million shortfall in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
That strategy is one piece of the draft budget plan to be released today, which The Bee reviewed Wednesday.
Even with the infusion of money from special funds, county officials are proposing to lay off 725 workers and cut 211 vacant positions – a 7.5 percent reduction in the county work force. That comes on top of the 750 positions the county eliminated to balance this year's budget and does not include proposed cuts to the Sheriff's Department, which faces a $37.6 million hit.
The proposed cuts would have been even deeper had interim County Executive Steve Szalay decided against using some "one-time funds" – reserves, borrowed money and other nonrecurring revenue sources that might cover a shortfall for a single year but don't address an underlying deficit.
Just a few months ago, Szalay told The Bee he would not use such quick fixes to balance the general fund budget. His pledge followed two fiscal years in which the Board of Supervisors borrowed heavily and relied on accounting tricks to paper over shortfalls and push deficits forward hoping that a stabilizing economy would stem the bleeding. Such budget practices have led major ratings agencies to lower the county's credit rating.
After a couple months of budget work, however, Szalay said he now believes the county has little choice but to once again use quick fixes to cushion the impact of looming cuts.
"I didn't want to do it. I really had to do it," Szalay said Wednesday. "The budget reductions were just too large."
In addition to the $20 million in one-time funds – which includes transferring $18 million from the workers' compensation fund – Szalay identified $40 million in cost savings and revenue transfers that could be used to stem the deficit. Even so, the proposed budget shortfall is $122 million in the county's roughly $2 billion general fund.
That will mean massive cuts across departments, including proposals for fewer health professionals treating indigent residents, another 43 jobs gone from Child Protective Services and closure of the Boys' Ranch, a juvenile detention center.
The proposed budget did contain some good news for several departments. Szalay is proposing to retain several high-profile positions that had been on the chopping block, including the animal care volunteer coordinator and two veterans' services workers who process claims. The other two claims workers are still targeted for layoff.
Officials also are proposing short-term funding for Effie Yeaw Nature Center and Gibson Ranch Park to keep those programs open until nonprofits can be found to take them over.
The Sheriff's Department also appears better off. The proposal Szalay will unveil today calls for a $37.6 million cut to the department – lower than original estimates but still 10 percent less funding than the sheriff said he needed to keep his department whole.
It's unclear what cuts Sheriff John McGinness will propose. The sheriff is an elected official who controls his own budget based on an allocation of funds from the county.
On Wednesday, McGinness said he is in talks with supervisors and is optimistic that officials will restore additional funding to his department. "I'm not saying we're going to get off with no pain at all, but it won't be $37.6 million," he said.
The Sheriff's Department funding isn't the only wild card to watch for when budget hearings begin next week. The proposed budget calls for cutting more than 20 percent of the Probation Department's budget – cuts that would mean closing the Boys' Ranch, eliminating most adult field services and closing a housing unit at the juvenile hall. The Sacramento County Probation Association has filed a lawsuit arguing that the proposed cuts would put the county in violation of state mandates.
Mental health advocates also have sued the county over proposed cuts, and on Wednesday asked the court for a preliminary injunction until the case can be reviewed.
Last month, the county received a scathing letter from the state's Department of Mental Health, which threatened to withhold funding should the county go through with cuts to mental health programs.
The county originally proposed eliminating four regional support teams that provide outpatient treatment. Officials said Wednesday that they are working on an alternative plan that would keep the teams operating in a limited capacity.
The Board of Supervisors will begin budget hearings at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the board chambers at 700 H St.