Sacramento County’s elected officials laid off 300 employees Tuesday, which brings the total number of layoffs to more than 700 since July, according to county spokesman Zeke Holst. Susan Peters, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, said at the Tuesday board meeting that the layoffs were needed in response to the ailing economy. In her comments, she foreshadowed possible upcoming layoffs to address the county’s $76 million shortfall. “I honestly don’t think that this is the last time you’ll see us back here with position reductions,” Peters said. “And we may be able to tweak a few things next week, but it’s not going to be very much, if anything,” she added. “I’m sorry the economy is

It would be an understatement to use the word “passionate” to describe the emotions of the hundreds of people who gathered in the Board of Supervisors' chambers for Thursday's budget hearing. The word “livid” would best describe the mood of the crowd as elected officials considered making $48 million in cuts to county social services programs. The supervisors are planning to cut more than 360 positions as they face a new budget gap of more than $54.5 million. In addition to the scores of planned layoffs, the board proposes cutting 16 hours per month from the workload of county employees who are represented by unions. The supervisors will hold another budget meeting tomorrow and are schedu

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

The director of the county department that works with the homeless population said Thursday that the department is still significantly hampered by the budget crisis even though county managers want to provide it with additional funding. Bruce Wagstaff, director of Sacramento County’s Department of Human Assistance, told the Board of Supervisors the department is facing a general fund budget gap of $36.8 million and will no longer have the ability to fund 154 shelter beds for homeless people. Wagstaff presented his department’s outlook during the board’s third day of budget hearings on the county’s $180 million budget gap. A proposed budget for the 2009/2010 fiscal year may be approved by

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s testimony to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday revealed tensions over funding for the sheriff’s department and county human services programs, with Sheriff John McGinness saying that the county must put more funding toward public safety.  The county sheriff’s department told the board that planned cuts to the department would lead to major public safety problems. The sheriff’s department presented to the board in its second day of budget hearings to address a $180 million budget gap. Supervisors may approve a proposed budget next week. McGinness said the planned $80 million in budget cuts to the department would mean that the “basic level of protection an