(Graphic courtesy of the L.A. Times)
You knew it was coming – the budget problems in Sacramento are now cropping up here in Orange County. “The squeeze on local government is expected to tighten further next year when the full impact of property tax adjustments hits. As property values have slumped, homeowners have asked for their homes to be reassessed — a process that will cut the government’s property tax revenue,” according to the L.A. Times.
As you can see in the graphic above, the cuts are going to be very deep for some of the County’s departments, chief amongst them the probation department and the health care agency. According to the Times, these cuts could have a big impact on community healthcare clinics that are funded by the County. That is very bad news in particular for Santa Ana residents, amny of whom are poor and uninsured.
Nick Berardino, the head of the County Employees Association, said, in the Times article, that “Before they even begin to think about cutting services and employees, they need to chop at the top.” I agree.
Let’s see of our Supervisors can think of any solutions – I doubt it very much. In particular, we will find out what Supervisor Janet Nguyen is made of. She represents the poorest parts of Orange County.
Unfortunately, Janet lacks the primary tools to deal with this — gonads.
Roll back to 2000, the county and state were rolling in the dollars and giving refunds. So just roll back to 2000.