Economic Development

Several months ago Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster described the county’s upcoming budget as the worst he had ever faced after 19 years of experience handling county budgets. Based on a recent report from the county’s top administrator, the local government is indeed facing some unwelcome news about its fiscal position. Interim County Executive Officer Larry Parrish informed supervisors that layoffs of as many as 196 county jobs may be necessary and cutbacks in fire protection could also be on the table.

This week the San Mateo Board of Supervisors is getting an early start on figuring out where the county stands financially with a preliminary look at budget numbers. Department heads have been asked to maintain current levels of public service during the next fiscal year after a 15-percent cut target was recommended last year.

San Mateo Acting County Manager John Maltbie informed the board that the county is facing a $28 million deficit and that the number could grow to $50 million by 2017. Mercury News reports:

We relayed recently that a senior actuary at CalPERS proposed reducing the assumed rate of return to 7.25%. The current estimate of annual returns is at 7.75 percent and the rate of return on investments has not been lowered since 2004. In an update, the CalPERS' pension and health benefits committee met on Tuesday and decided to recommend a more conservative forecast of 7.5 percent (thereby rejecting the actuary’s suggestion of 7.25%). The vote was 6-2 and the committee’s decision will now move to the pension fund’s full board on Wednesday.

Income inequality has grown by 18% since 1967, according to a new report from the Census Bureau that tracks income disparity for every single county in the nation. While inequality has grown by nearly 20 percent since the late 60s, the report also notes that growth in income inequality has tapered off as of late. The Bureau’s latest report examines the distribution of income within a population rather than measuring actual income figures. Generally speaking, counties in the south had the greatest levels of inequality while the Midwest tended to have less.

The city of San Diego is calling efforts to build a new stadium downtown for the Chargers a “regional, countywide effort” as a way to defend the potential use of county tax dollars to fund construction. It’s been reported that since November 2009, Supervisors Ron Roberts and Dianne Jacob have held several private meetings with Mayor Jerry Sanders about the stadium and the county officials have noted they are interested in the project if it can provide a steady stream of new revenue for county government.