LA County Cutting $35M From Budget, Avoiding Layoffs And Furloughs
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Despite a $220.9 million budget deficit heading into the coming fiscal year, Los Angeles County officials said Monday they will be able to close the gap without resorting to layoffs or requiring workers to take unpaid furlough days.
County Chief Executive Officer William Fujioka said his proposed $23.3 billion budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year includes $35.7 million in spending cuts, use of one-time funding and the elimination of 257 vacant positions to help eliminate the shortfall.
Over the past four years, the county has eliminated a total of 2,735 unfilled positions worth about $406 million in savings, he said.
"We're making a structural change to our budget to improve the foundation of our budget for future years," he said.
The county will not have to tap into its "rainy day fund" or economic reserves to balance the budget, he said.
He said employee labor unions have been a good partners, enabling the county to reduce its benefit costs by about $75 million.
However, he expressed concern about huge cuts in the state and federal budgets that have been proposed, but not yet finalized and would have a significant negative effect on the county's budget.
The county is anticipating a $366 million hit from the state budget alone, hitting mainly health and social service programs. It is also examining the impacts of a potential elimination or reduction of federal block grants for Medicare and Medi-Cal patients.
If the block grants are cut, he predicted, health providers around the county will stop seeing Medicare and Medi-Cal patients. The only choice will be to come to the county, which he said already has long lines in emergency rooms.
"And you'll see an impact on emergency services. You'll see an impact on every single county health care program," Fujioka said. "We are the facility of last resort."
Fujioka said the proposed state and federal budget cuts were not factored into his proposed budget because the situations in Sacramento and Washington are in so much flux.
"Continuing to maintain service levels, avoid significant layoffs and produce a balanced budget will only be possible to the extent recent economic indicators showing signs of improvement are sustained," he said.
Fujioka noted that two bright spots include sales and property tax revenues that are expected to increase by 0.7 percent in 2011-12, marking the first year-over-year increase since 2006-07.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
