It won
’t take long for cuts in the county’s new budget to be felt in
South County.
It won’t take long for cuts in the county’s new budget to be felt in South County.
In Morgan Hill, Community Solutions, which also has clients and programs in Gilroy and San Martin, is looking at an $86,000 cut.
But the largest funding cut will be felt by the Mexican American Community Services Agency, which will lose $150,000 in funding.
“The hurt is spread out through the entire county,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage said this week. “The reality is that services are not where they were five years ago. The surprising thing is that with the amount of dollars we’ve had to cut, the service (levels) are stable.”
The $2.1 billion recommended budget for fiscal year 2006, which begins July 1, is more than $630 million less than the county’s budget for fiscal year 2003-04.
County Executive Pete Kutras was able to cut the $126 million deficit for this year by eliminating 198 vacant full-time positions, refinancing the county’s retirement plan and drawing on about $40 million in “one-time” funds, money unexpectedly left over from the previous year.
There are virtually no service increases in the budget, though some additional staffing has been provided for the county probation department, in part because of trouble at the William F. James Boys Ranch in Morgan Hill. The budget preserves the rural sheriff’s deputy for South County.
There are some service cuts. The county will no longer help staff the California Department of Forestry Santa Clara Unit fire station near Smith Creek in east San Jose, and the road repair budget has been slashed, though those cuts shouldn’t affect local drivers. Road Operations Superintendent Roger Piazza said that South County will adhere to its normal maintenance schedule in the coming year.
“We’ve been knocked down in half, but the good news is that the rural area near the south yard is keeping 23 miles (of road sealant),” Piazza said.
Matt King covers Santa Clara County for The Dispatch. He can be reached at at 847-7240 or mking@ gilroydispatch.com.
