Alpine looking for ways to balance the budget

We all know, or most of us do anyway, that the word "fiscal" pertains to the treasury or finances of a government. And associated with that are the more familiar terms "budget," "revenue," and "funds," and associated with those terms is that word that makes the world go 'round, "money." (Having said "money," I expect I've got your attention now.)

The availability of money or the lack thereof is always what preoccupies local government officials around this time of year, including Alpine County with the smallest population of any county in the state of California and a government organization to match it.

Last month, the board of supervisors adopted a budget for fiscal year 2009-10 based on the best information available and tentatively it's balanced.

Having a balanced budget over the past few years, including the 09-10 budget, has only been possible by adding carryover funds from the past years to expected revenue, along with several cost cutting measures.

Much of those carryover funds have been the result of major trimming of county personnel.

During the last year of so, five of seven senior management positions have been eliminated along with a number of other positions.

In case you missed it, the county librarian, museum director, county engineer, chief building official, director of public works, and the former assistant to the board of supervisors are gone, replaced in a couple of instances with part-time consultants or by lower grade employees.

Also, at this time, the positions of director of health and human services, the director of mental health, and the director of alcohol and drugs programs are vacant.

Funds carried over from the past fiscal year won't be there next year, so what has been done to balance the budget so far is just a temporary fix.

The bigger storm cloud over the time horizon is what the California state government is going to do to balance its budget.

There's talk of the state withholding 8 percent of the county's property tax revenue as well as eliminating or reducing certain state funded programs.

The road department is expected to be hard hit.

That will require the county to make more cost savings. Actions being considered by the county to create more savings are: requiring all employees to take furlough time by cutting back the work week to 36 hours; selling some of the county's equipment or county-owned real estate; granting early retirement accompanied by a cash award to those who qualify for early retirement; postponing scheduled step increases in salary for employees; and reducing office hours to save utility costs.

There is also the possibility that the county will raise some fees. For example, Alpine County is the only county in the state that doesn't currently charge for food facility inspections; and that could change.

Managing to make ends meet is a trick that most households have to do regularly, particularly during these economic times.

Things are made more complicated by the state's now paying many of its obligations by IOUs, including many of the payments made to county governments.

Some banks won't honor the IOUs, so the county has to manage by using its cash reserves, thereby depleting them and potentially creating a cash flow problem.

The county's current budget is $26.6 million and will likely be less next fiscal year. Some of the services to the public have already been curtailed, the county workforce is stressed, and further cuts by the state government can be expected.

All indications, however, are that the Alpine County administration can handle whatever comes along.

"Like the rest of the country, we're facing a financial crisis, expect to have curtailed services (but bear with us)," said County Administrative Officer Pamela Knorr.

For those of you who want to get a better handle of how the funds are being allocated this fiscal year, log on to www.alpinecountyca.gov, click on Board of Supervisors and open the minutes of June 11.

If you want to stay current, look at the posted agendas, attend the board meetings, or read the minutes from subsequent meetings.