State - California's budget woes will sweep over the state's 58 counties this week when they get promises instead of checks for $89 million in anticipated payments for welfare, food stamps and other services. The move will be a devastating blow to the counties, which must serve more and more people looking for government help as the economy craters and jobs disappear, said Paul McIntosh, executive director of the California Association of Counties. With local governments every bit as battered as the state, little cash is available to cover the deficit. “There are counties that only have a couple weeks of cash on hand and could have trouble meeting payroll,” McIntosh said. While state Controller John Chiang insists that social services money is only being delayed for a month and will be repaid in March, a spokeswoman for the controller said the normal March payments might then have to be delayed for a month if no budget agreement has been reached. But county officials are unsure when, or even if, they will see those state payments. Many counties are planning to go to court as soon as that first payment is missed. San Francisco will join a lawsuit set to be filed by San Diego and Sacramento counties, arguing that Chiang must release funds that already have been appropriated by the Legislature in the state budget. Los Angeles and Colusa counties have talked about hanging on to tax payments and other funds that normally go to the state, while Riverside County plans to ask the courts to allow it to close social service programs until California resumes its payments. Last week, the governor put 238,000 workers on unpaid leaves twice a month through June 2010 to save the state $1.4 billion.