Layoffs loom as county cuts

Facing an economy in recession and the state’s “deplorable budget tactics,” as Butte County CAO Brian Haddix put it, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Dec. 16) voted to lop off a full $10 million from this year’s budget.

They did so by taking four discrete steps: requiring total savings of $4 million from county departments, delaying certain capital projects and equipment purchases ($2 million saved), transferring $1.9 million from trust funds, and using contingency funds with other solutions ($2.1 million saved).

The cuts will force layoffs in two departments, Deputy Administrative Officer Sang Kim told the CN&R: Development Services and Behavioral Health. DDS, which already had cut 11 positions, will eliminate another nine; BCBH will cut 13 positions, most of them administrative.

Meanwhile, in Sacramento, legislators are no closer to resolving their differences in the face of a fiscal tsunami in the form of a $42 billion shortfall over the next 18 months.