BOARD WRESTLES WITH BUDGET CUTS, EXPECTS MORE.Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer County supervisors heard from department heads and the public Monday how cuts made to balance a proposed $1.2 billion 2002-03 budget will affect them. Officials closed a projected $17.6 million funding shortfall Shortfall The amount by which the capital required to fulfill a financial obligation exceeds available capital. Notes: Shortfall risk is often combated with an efficient hedging strategy created by a fund, group, institution, or individual. by reducing nonlaw-enforcement spending by 4.2 percent. The Health Care Agency will see the biggest reduction at $3 million. ``We want you to be fair with us,'' county Mental Health Board member Karyn Bates Bates , Katherine Lee 1859-1929. American educator and writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful," written in 1893 and revised in 1904 and 1911. said at the opening day of the budget hearing. ``Make cuts across the board. Give us whatever you can.'' She suggested that the board look into taxing alcohol in the county to raise needed revenues. The county's budget doesn't include an additional estimated $26 million loss in state revenue as lawmakers in Sacramento try to close a $23.6 billion deficit. Acting Behavioral Health Behavioral health was first used in the 1980's to name the combination of the fields mental health and substance abuse. As an example, an organization serving both mental health and substance abuse clients might refer to its practice as behavioral health or Department Director Linda Shulman said the cut would require her department to limit mental health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract to the poor. Her boss, Health Care Agency Director Pierre Durand Pierre Durand is the name of several people:
Durand said if there were no other sources of funding, the department would look at cuts such as reducing medical clinic visits. Sheriff Bob Brooks said his department will live with the budget recommendation to keep spending next fiscal year to a 2.1 percent increase. However, he said, nonmandated programs such as youth outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. and crime prevention will have to be reassessed, and the women's jail, which provides more than 200 beds near Ojai, may close. ``We've done the best we can to put our house in order,'' County Executive John Johnston
Johnston predicted tough times ahead because it appears that the state is going to spread its budget woes over three years, which would mean further uncertainty for the county. That is coupled with the expense of the juvenile justice center now being built and the rising cost of employee health care, a 30 percent to 35 percent estimated increase for next year, he said. The budget hearing is expected to continue at 9 a.m. today at the County Hall of Administration, 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura. |
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