Budget hearings are underway for Tuolumne County.
The Board of Supervisors began hearing from County Administrator C. Brent Wallace yesterday on the subject of the 2004-2005 budget.
He told the board that Tuolumne County is not alone when it comes to the cuts being faced.
“It´s really not different [in other California counties]. The numbers are bigger, maybe there´s another zero, but when it comes right down to the actual type of impact, county by county, because we all function basically under the same law, it´s the same kind of decision-making being felt everywhere,” said Wallace.
Sheriff Dick Rogers reported that the county´s hiring freeze and elimination of open positions is resulting in longer response times in some cases.
“If you take a look at the statistics I reported, we had a doubling of thefts. The people I´ve got working right now are primarily working crimes against persons, which are our number one priority, obviously. But we´re getting pretty far behind on crimes against property,” Rogers said Monday afternoon.
56 full-time positions will remain unfilled over the next two years as county departments work to stay within the budget.
Supervisors continue their talks today with a look at the budget for Tuolumne General Hospital.
The special session resumes at 9am.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 4:28 pm