The county has resolved its budget crisis for this fiscal year,
and we can all breath a sigh of relief that some of the most
drastic cuts were not as severe as officials originally
predicted.
The county has resolved its budget crisis for this fiscal year, and we can all breath a sigh of relief that some of the most drastic cuts were not as severe as officials originally predicted. In addition, officials protected the county’s reserve intended to fund emergency services in the case of a natural or man-made disaster. Our relief comes with a big “however” attached to it.
We dislike the last-minute discovery of state revenue and new fees, both of which played a big part in closing the budget gap that was trumpeted as the county’s worst ever.
That scenario breeds distrust in county officials and the budget process. It feels like a game of chicken between taxpayers and officials: Who is going to blink first?
And the next time the county faces a budget crisis – say, this time next year, when the county will likely have to close another deficit in excess of $100 million – taxpayers will have reason to doubt officials’ “the sky is falling” predictions.
We’re less than satisfied with the budget crisis resolution because no effort was made to cut costs by seeking concessions from county employees. County employees enjoy high salaries, generous benefits, liberal holiday and vacation plans, and pension packages that exceed those enjoyed by the vast majority of taxpayers – the folks who foot the bills.
It seems only right that union employees and nonunion managers be asked to reduce their salaries, trim their benefits, give up some vacation or holiday time, or lower their pension packages.
Also, we’d have liked to have seen a focus on improving efficiency at the county and installing some sort of merit-based system for awarding pay increases.
But most of all, we’re missing the “come to Jesus” moment from supervisors regarding their failed effort to convince voters to approve a half-cent sales tax boost. District One County Supervisor Don Gage loudly decried the vote that rejected the measure that was unofficially tied to the BART boondoggle.
“The voters vote, and what they say – fine. Then they’re going to have to deal with what the county is going to have to do to balance the budget. There’s going to be a lot of stuff that’s going to have to disappear,” Gage said last year after the sales tax measure was rejected by voters.
We’d like to hear some equally vociferous (and sincere) mea culpas from supervisors acknowledging that they were wrong to ask for a half-cent sales tax increase instead of the justifiable quarter-cent increase, wrong to muddy the waters with a backroom BART deal, wrong gamble the county’s fiscal future with that measure.
And we haven’t heard that.
We’re glad to put the budget mess behind us for now, relieved that many services were reduced instead of eliminated, but painfully aware that we’re likely to relive the scenario next year.
