Tuolumne County Budget Hearings Underway

Budget hearings are underway for Tuolumne County.

The Board of Supervisors began hearing from County Administrator C. Brent Wallace yesterday on the subject of the 2004-2005 budget.

He told the board that Tuolumne County is not alone when it comes to the cuts being faced.

“It´s really not different [in other California counties]. The numbers are bigger, maybe there´s another zero, but when it comes right down to the actual type of impact, county by county, because we all function basically under the same law, it´s the same kind of decision-making being felt everywhere,” said Wallace.

Sheriff Dick Rogers reported that the county´s hiring freeze and elimination of open positions is resulting in longer response times in some cases.

“If you take a look at the statistics I reported, we had a doubling of thefts. The people I´ve got working right now are primarily working crimes against persons, which are our number one priority, obviously. But we´re getting pretty far behind on crimes against property,” Rogers said Monday afternoon.

56 full-time positions will remain unfilled over the next two years as county departments work to stay within the budget.

Supervisors continue their talks today with a look at the budget for Tuolumne General Hospital.

The special session resumes at 9am.