After four straight years of budget cuts, the proposed Los Angeles County 2012-13 budget comes to a total of $23.7 billion, about a $565 million decrease from last year. Impressively, the budget proposes no layoffs or furloughs within the County, one of the state’s largest employers, nor does it propose any major cuts to public services.
The Sheriff’s Department will see its employee base increase by 160 workers while eight additional workers will be added to attend to veterans’ mental health services.
“While other levels of government are facing huge cuts in programs, our conservative budget practices in the good times continue to soften the blow,” Supervisor Don Knabe said in a statement released to the public. “The modest growth we are seeing in the economy has resulted in a decrease in our caseloads, and our reform efforts continue to reduce our costs to ensure that limited resources are reaching the people who need them most.”
However, Knabe — amongst others — remains concerned about two key things that could affect the budget: the impact of the already-underfunded state’s realignment programs and the potential loss of $50 million in revenue per the statement of county assessor.
“[County CEO William Fujioka] is estimating that Public Safety Realignment [program alone] will create a deficit of approximately $6 million by the end of this fiscal year,” said Supervisor Michael Antonovich, echoing the concerns of Knabe.
The proposed budged will be formally introduced to the Board of Supervisors today; a public hearing on the budget will be held on May 16th.