That’s when the board will start debating which services to add or subtract – from public safety to health and human services and more.
 
Supervisor Roger Dickinson says he thinks the sheriff’s and probation departments will get some of their proposed cuts restored – and so might some services for children, the mentally ill and homeless.
 
Dickinson: “We are looking at cuts right now that are very, very difficult to imagine.  And we don’t have a lot of extra money to work with, so that’s why I think we’re gonna have to try to apply it as strategically as we can.” 
 
The county faces a $180 million deficit.  That’s nearly 30 percent of its discretionary spending.
 
The proposed cuts include closing juvenile correctional facilities, and cutting mental health services and homeless shelters.  And Sheriff John McGinness has said his department would only be able to respond to calls that involve life-or-death situations.