County Anxiously Waits For State To Pass Budget

Sonora, Ca — The State´s failure to pass a new fiscal budget is leaving county government leaders with a sense of uncertainty.

?There´s been discussion about suspending local Proposition 1A, which prevents the State from taking local property tax,? says Tuolumne CAO Craig Pedro. ?This is a concern, because if they were to do that, we could see as much as $1.3 million taken directly from our local property tax.?

Since April, the County has already had to deal with the State withholding payments in certain areas, such as the gas tax and to some social service areas. Pedro says that this is not the top concern for County government, because in theory this money will eventually come in and the County will just have to cover the interest costs. Pedro says it has more of an affect on local non-profits, because they do not have the cash flow to operate for an extended period of time.

Agencies that could possibly be forced to cut programs in the coming months if a budget is not finalized include ATCAA, The Mountain Women´s Resource Center and WATCH.

Written by BJ Hansen