County on track to meet budget

Tulare County is on track to meet its budgeted expenditures at the end of the Fiscal Year.

Based on mid year figures from Dec. 31 included in the agenda packet for Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors, nearly all of the departments that operate with General Fund money — the main operating account — forecast that they will wrap up the year at or below their allocated amounts. If they are able to meet their targets, or under spend, as predicted, it will be in spite of financial obstacles, resulting in part from the state’s financial crisis.

As the county’s financial planners review midyear reports, they also begin to plan for the next year fiscal year. According to County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau, the financial outlook continues to look grim, with revenues from property taxes expected to drop as much as 5 percent.

“We’re going to finish the year in OK shape, we’re not going to have to do any reductions,” he said. “Next year won’t be nearly as bad as this year, but we’re still going to have a shortfall.”

Last year the Tulare County Board of Supervisors adopted a $932 million budget, requiring staff to work with $27 million less than they did in the last fiscal year. A $13.3 million shortfall was replenished by implementing a myriad of cuts: layoffs, pay reductions and the suspension of benefits, and lowering operational costs within each department by about 7 percent each.

“It’s a tough time, counties are really dependent on sales tax and property tax revenues,” Rousseau sad.

Tulare County lost $5.8 million in sales and property tax revenues last year, money that would have been funneled into the General Fund to pay for the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, the Public Defender and District Attorney, the Resource Management Agency (the only agency that has indicated it will not meet its allocated net costs) and Human Resources, among others. In 2009, property values declined for the first time in Tulare County with .96 percent decrease compared with the previous year.

Rousseau said Friday that he expects assessed values to slump as much as 5 percent next year, which could translate to $4.5 million. Assessed property values account for 60 percent of General Fund revenues.

While working with less, the departments, in total, had spent 44 percent of this year’s budget by Dec. 31. Only once in the past five years — in Fiscal Year 2006-07 — was the mid-year outlook better with expenditures at 43 percent of budget.

As of Dec. 31, revenues accounted for 39 percent of that budgeted.

Still, the county has seen worse. In Fiscal Year 2007-08, revenues were at 35 percent of the budget.

“Starting the year with $4.5 million revenue decline, the revenue picture doesn’t look very positive, but the budget deficit won’t be any greater than this year,” Rousseau said.

He, along with Human Resources representatives, will begin meeting with union leaders in the next few months to hammer out labor contracts for the county’s thousands of employees. Labor costs currently account for approximately $4.5 million of the budget.

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors will review the mid-year report at its regularly scheduled meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Board Chambers at the Administration Building, located at 2800 W. Burrel Ave. in Visalia. For a copy of Tuesday’s agenda, or to listen to the meeting online, visit http://www.co.tulare.ca.us/government/board/default.asp

Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050, or jchandler@portervillerecorder.com.