Just saying revenues are down and expenses are up doesn’t always hit home.  But these words might ...
 
McIntosh: “You could see a reduction in library hours; you could see longer lines for social services; you could see reduced patrols on the sheriffs department.”
 
Paul McIntosh is the executive director at the California State Association of Counties.  He says the state’s 58 counties will face a combined shortfall that reaches into the hundreds of millions of dollars.  That’s due to a decline in property and sales tax growth and an increase in health care and retirement costs.
 
McIntosh says counties will be forced to make up that gap … and state mandates leave them without much flexibility.  He says the cuts will have to come from discretionary spending – like libraries and public safety.