Sacramento County officials are predicting the county could face a $9 million gap in addition to its current budget hole of $166.5 million. A big chunk of the estimated $9 million consists of costs from laying off hundreds of employees during the 2009/2010 budget process. The extra $9 million was news to county officials — a county budget document presented to reporters Thursday states the $9 million was “recently identified.”     Of the $9 million, $6 million are costs to the county’s general fund for unemployment insurance and pension obligation bond payments, according to the document. “That’s primarily (because) as the county has layoffs and folks have gone out the door — there’s le

About 800 county employees could lose their jobs as a result of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors' approval of the proposed 2009/2010 budget Wednesday, according to Nav Gill, the county's chief operations officer. Supervisors will approve a final budget for the fiscal year in September. The county must still resolve a $19 million budget gap in the state-mandated programs the county administers, according to Gill and county budget officer Linda Foster-Hall. The budget process for the 2009/2010 fiscal year has been “a difficult task under extremely trying circumstances,” said Supervisor Susan Peters. The county’s $19 million shortfall for state-mandated programs is affected by th

Sacramento County officials began budget hearings Tuesday with an explanation of the county's poor financial state, noting that the county is expecting an ongoing pattern of poor sales tax revenues, among other problems. The county is also facing criticism about its budgeting practices from credit rating agencies, said Nav Gill, chief operations officer for the county. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is addressing a $180 million budget gap in budget hearings this week. Supervisors may approve a proposed budget next week. The county’s proposed overall budget is $4.3 billion for the 2009/2010 fiscal year. The proposed general fund budget is $2.03 billion. “This budget is the mos