Santa Clara County supervisors may have to cut 2,500 employees
to offset an anticipated deficit of $381 million to $481 million in
the upcoming fiscal year.
Santa Clara County supervisors may have to cut 2,500 employees to offset an anticipated deficit of $381 million to $481 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
This week, to a standing-room-only crowd, supervisors began review and deliberations of services and programs the county is required by law to provide. The workshop is a step in the process ahead to cut up to $200 million from the fiscal year 2005 budget, which would be in effect on July 1, 2004.
In an overview statement to the board, County Executive Pete Kutras said, “The task before the Board is not to determine the need or value of providing specific services, together we have to look at what we can no longer continue doing.”
Kutras discussed the painful cuts of $281 million and 1,000 jobs the county eliminated during the past two years and indicated that those numbers could grow if the state does not backfill the Vehicle License Fees, estimated this year at $60 million to $70 million.
Currently, the county has 15,281 employees. The 2003-04 fiscal year budget is $3.27 billion.
Last spring, the county directed Management Audit Consultant Harvey Rose and Company to conduct an analysis of legally mandated services. The result is a 800 plus page study.
Some non-mandated programs the county provides serve key functions in the community. For example, Valley Medical Center, community clinics, criminal justice prevention activities, child abuse prevention, intervention and treatment projects, domestic violence intervention, adoption services and foster home licensing are all non-mandated programs.
At the workshop, there also was a discussion of some of the impacts of the governor’s proposed reductions. One program in particular is the elimination of funds for relatives who provide in-home care for seniors and the disabled.
“We have some tough decisions ahead,” said Supervisor Don Gage, District 1. “We’ll be relying on the administration to propose reductions and then the Board can exercise the discretion about which programs to cut.”
