Santa Clara County Faces $80 Million Budget Deficit

SAN JOSE (KCBS) – Santa Clara County officials had a tough pill to swallow on Wednesday, following a bleak report on the county budget.

County Executive Jeff Smith said the San Jose Redevelopment Agency owes the county three years of back payments totaling almost $63 million.

"In addition, you'll notice that we also have some deficits in projection for property taxes and a significant problem in the increase of expenditures that are over-budgeted for this year," Smith said.

KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:

In total, the county is facing a revenue shortfall of almost $80 million, meaning they could have trouble paying both bills and employees.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who is a Certified Public Accountant, said the numbers have put them in a tough spot.

"The situation is bleak. We don't have the cash flow. We had a time a few months ago where we barely met payroll," said Wasserman. "We've got that upcoming concern now. We've got one time funds that aren't coming this time around like they did a year ago. We don't know what the state's going to do. That's out of our control. And the federal funding that we got a year ago is not coming anymore."

The county could be facing a year-end budget deficit of between $46-67 million and Wasserman said they are being attacked from all sides.

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