Alameda, Contra Costa Counties To Make Additional Budget Cuts After Passage of State Budget
Alameda and Contra Costa counties must make additional cuts to their budgets after the passage last week of a state budget that allocates fewer dollars to local governments, the Contra Costa Times reports. According to preliminary estimates, the state budget will create an additional $29.2 million budget deficit for Alameda County, where supervisors already cut $98 million from this year's budget. County officials will convene a working group of supervisors and community and labor leaders to discuss possible cuts, which the county board would likely decided on in September. Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi said the cuts will mean "more reductions in local government."
Meanwhile, the state budget will translate into an additional budget shortfall of $21 million for Contra Costa County, where supervisors already made $53.5 million in cuts in June. County supervisors are expected to meet next week to make the additional cuts. County Administrator John Sweeten, in a plan released Monday, said the new reductions would affect all sectors of local government, including health services. Contra Costa County leaders are planning to reduce security staff at county hospitals and clinics, health services for prison inmates and mental health services for children (Felsenfeld, Contra Costa Times, 8/3).