Los Angeles County FY 2004-2005 Budget Increases Funding for County Health Department
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a budget for fiscal year 2004-2005 that "slightly boosts spending" for the county Department of Health Services and other agencies, the Los Angeles Times reports. Under the $17.3 billion plan, county DHS will receive $57.5 million more in FY 2004-2005 than it did in the previous fiscal year (Fox, Los Angeles Times, 6/22). According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the final budget is "dramatically different" from an April proposal that would have closed dozens of libraries, probation camps and parks and would have laid off several thousand county employees (Anderson, Los Angeles Daily News, 6/21). After two years of funding cuts and service reductions, including the closure of 16 health clinics, the county's fiscal plans seem to be "paying off," the Times reports. The FY 2004-2005 budget includes a revenue increase of about $185 million, or 1%, from FY 2003-2004, in part because of federal and state grants and increases in vehicle and property tax revenue (Los Angeles Times, 6/22).
The Daily News reports that the budget eliminates $30 million in funding for mental health programs for people without health insurance. Critics of the funding reduction said it will have a "dramatically negative" effect on thousands of people with mental illnesses, according to the Daily News (Los Angeles Daily News, 6/21).
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