Thu 10 Dec 2009
Revenue Shortfall for County could be more than $200 million
Posted by admin under County of LA No Comments
The current budget projections show that L.A. County’s Proposition 172 and realignment sales tax revenues will fall short of budgeted revenue for this current fiscal year by more than $200 million. The County CEO office is preparing a plan to mitigate the shortfall, which will be presented to the Board in January.
In a letter dated December 8, 2009 to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, County CEO William T. Fujioka wrote the following:
2009-10 REVENUE SHORTFALL
The continued critical issues with the State budget, in addition to increasing costs of various programs and declining revenues, have significantly impacted the County’s financial resources. In preparation for developing the 2010-11 Proposed Budget recommendations, our office has been working with departments to review the current fiscal year (FY) 2009-10 budget status. Based on the fourth-month budget status report (BSR),it is projected that Public Safety Augmentation Fund (Proposition 172) and realignment sales tax revenues will fall short of budgeted revenue for this current fiscal year by over $200 million.
Because the current fiscal year revenue shortfall may potentially carryover into FY 2010-11, we will continue to closely monitor and update the current year BSR. To that end, we have requested departments to prepare a fifth-month BSR and submit the report to our office later this month. As such, we will immediately begin to scrutinize the current hard hiring freeze guidelines and process to ensure that only essential positions are filled for critical operational needs.
We will report back to your Board in late January 2010 with our analysis of the fifth-month BSR. In addition, we will provide a recommended action plan for your Board’s consideration to address this current fiscal year’s shortfall, which also will assist us in mitigating financial issues previously identified for FY 2010-11.
The letter was copied to all Los Angles County department heads. The budget shortfall will have an impact on many departments including the Sheriff, District Attorney and other services.
