The Chief Executive Officer’s proposal for the Los Angeles County 2008-2009 Budget rightly focuses on limiting growth of government programs in the time of a slowing economy and slowing revenue into County coffers.
For the first time in several years, we are experiencing a loss in property tax revenue from the stalled real estate market and the potential loss of state funding in many areas. However, this proposed budget reveals that Los Angeles County remains in solid financial shape and today we are not facing the widespread financial shortfalls and cutbacks that many other levels of government are currently suffering.
What we will have to keep a close eye on is the potential impact the proposed Federal and State budgets could have on the County in the year ahead. Proposed cuts in both of these budgets could potentially mean a loss of up to $500 million in funding to the County in the year ahead. Both the Federal and State budgets proposals are still very uncertain at this point, so the potential hit the County could take is unknown today. We likely will not know more about these impacts until September or October. If State and Federal budget cuts impact the County, then we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then, the County will move forward with our own budget proposal that is free of service cuts at this time.
As far as our budget proposal, I am very pleased to see $4.6 million in new funding for enhanced unincorporated Sheriff patrols. This means our unincorporated area residents will benefit from dozens of additional patrol deputies in the near future. Additionally, $3.3 million in new funding will be dedicated to gang prevention efforts.
Although the vast majority of our County programs and departments remain financially solvent, the ongoing deficit in the Department of Health Services is still deeply alarming and continues to loom on the horizon. With a potential structural deficit of over $700 million in the next two fiscal years, the time to act and to make difficult decisions has arrived. We must resolve this deficit without reducing health services to patients. Closing clinics and access points to healthcare is not the answer in a time when we should be opening additional clinics. We need creative decisions and a willingness to look at out-of-the-box solutions to solve this deficit and we need to make these decisions now.