COUNTY SUPERVISORS APPROVE $4.8 BILLION BUDGET, STILL SHORTFALLS

It’s the time of year when bodies at many levels of government grapple with budgets for the following fiscal year. Tuesday, San Bernardino County announced approval of a balanced budget for 2014-2015. Reporter Dan Stork describes how that is to be achieved…
The $4.8 billion San Bernardino County budget for the fiscal year starting July 4 was described as “balanced,” despite the projection that expenses will exceed revenues by $21 million. The County release that announced approval of the budget by the County supervisors at their Tuesday meeting explained, “The budget fills the gap mainly through anticipated concessions from labor union members. If for any reason those concessions do not materialize, the only alternative will be to make deep and drastic cuts to other county programs, primarily law enforcement.” The announcement went on to give some specifics on problem areas in the budget. “The budget leaves 84 percent of the recently built 1,392 High Desert Detention Center expansion unstaffed and unused. There are also $65 million in county assets–-vehicles, computers, etc.—that are beyond their useful life and there is no funding to replace them. The budget manages to build up county reserves, but reserves will only be at 13.8 percent, which is well below the 20 percent mandated by County Policy. ”