COUNTY BUDGET

Together we have been through several challenging years, due to the lingering effects of the recession and the resulting budget shortfalls counties and cities in California are experiencing. Marin is fortunate that we have acted prudently these past years, and are not in the dire circumstances some counties find themselves in. We have the highest bond rating of any county in California, and have taken significant steps to reduce our budget, decrease retiree healthcare costs and address pension reform while maintaining and improving vital services.

I am on the Board’s Long Term Budget Restructuring Committee, which involves employee and community outreach. I also know that it is imperative that we come up with new ways of doing business as a County while continuing to strive toward providing excellent services in an environment of continued State cuts to local governments. My goal is to ensure that we do the most important things well.

We initiated the Long-Term Restructuring effort in January, 2009. The actions that we’ve taken over the past several years have put us in a position to make significant progress toward closing what had been a projected $50 million deficit over a five-year period. Now entering the fourth year of our five-year long-term restructuring plan, we have:

• Reduced over $30 million of our projected $50 million shortfall
• Enacted a hiring freeze in 2007
• Reduced our workforce by over 240 positions (more than 10% of our workforce)
• Fully implemented two department consolidation efforts - including the new Sheriff-Coroner and Department of Finance
• Enacted pension reforms such as basing pension benefits on a three year average rather than the highest single year and capping annual cost of living adjustments at two percent
• Created a new, lower cost retiree health plan for employees hired in 2008 or later
• Limited growth in existing retiree health plans
• Raised the retirement age with a new Miscellaneous retirement tier of 2% at 61 ¼ (previously 55) negotiated with all Miscellaneous bargaining groups
• Set aside and budgeted for unfunded retiree health liabilities above ‘pay as you go’

While we have made significant progress over the past three years, we face a two-year budget gap of $10-$15 million (or 3%-4% of budget), driven largely by flat property tax growth and higher benefit costs. This year’s budget process will focus on countywide savings options and the development of department policy options to close the two-year budget gap.

Departments have been asked to develop policies to address a 10% reduction target (net county cost) over the two-year period. Rather than simply making cuts, departments are being asked to evaluate their strategic vision and business model and define resource needs with this longer-term view.

For background and the latest information on the County budget, as well as presentation materials from recent workshops, please visit the County Budget page at: http://www.co.marin.ca.us/budgetinfo.