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Wednesday, 02 July 2008 00:32

2009 County Budget Debate

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slide9.png“This year, without a lot of flashing going on, we’re already about 3 million dollars out of sync.” These words the words of County Administrative Officer Terri Daly as she began a presentation on Amador County’s proposed budget for the upcoming year at last week’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting. After much deliberation, approval of the budget was delayed and the matter resurfaced again at Tuesday’s meeting. According to Daly, there is still plenty of room for budget adjustments to be made and Amador County is not at the point where it needs to resort to layoffs like many other areas, an infamous example of which is the city of Vallejo, which faces bankruptcy. Amador County’s current budget proposal includes approximately 1.3 million in contingency money, 500,000 dollars to continue the fight against Indian Gaming, a large sum for capitol improvements, and funding to purchase a new jail site. It also includes a contingency for a county employee hiring freeze. Other factors, such as a proposed Early Retirement Incentive Program and the Amador Economic Stimulus package were also factored into the final numbers.

The Supervisor’s were generally in agreement with Daly that the proposed budget package was sensible. However, there was speculation over a noticeable increase in District Attorney fees and salaries that required more research and resulted in the postponement of the approval. At Tuesday’s meeting, Daly explained that there are multiple reasons for the rate and salary increases. The 2003 through 2005 budgets had all included salary reductions from 2 to 10 percent. After a recent renegotiation of labor contracts, salary increases were once again necessary. The Board seemed satisfied with this answer and approved the proposed budget.
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