An agency responsible for protecting Lake Tahoe is anticipating even deeper spending cuts as California and Nevada continue wrestling with their money shortages.
“TRPA”—the “Tahoe Regional Planning Agency” already has trimmed its spending by hundreds of thousands of dollars since last July…but as the recession grows more stubborn…the likelihood for more cuts is on the way.
Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons now says he wants to slash his state’s contribution to TRPA by 40-percent. And, California…which funds two-thirds of TRPA’s nearly 12-million dollar price tag through the sale of specialty environmental license plates…is sending less money next year too.
TRPA’s spokeswoman Julie Regan says the agency already has started a hiring freeze…made layoffs and is temporarily shutting down some of its offices on a rotation basis…
“So we’re gonna do our best to provide our services…recognizing that people will have to be aware that one day a month we’re closing our offices on those work furlough days…of course the state of California now has two furlough days now…we just hope the community can be aware of them and plan around them…”
TRPA permanently closed its office on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe to cut costs. She says the public will have to rely more on the agency’s website to get permits and for other services.