The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on June 28 approved the county’s $1.59 billion budget for the year that started July 1. That’s an increase of $65 million from the previous fiscal year, said County Manager John Maltbie.
The budget maintains funding for county services already in place, while allocating funds for the county’s new Youth Services Center, the Mental Health Services Act Plan, Housing our People Effectively Plan and other initiatives.
The budget reflects costs for county employee salaries and health care, and retiree health-care liability.
The board allocated $200,000 to study whether universal health-care coverage can be provided in the county.
Since 2000, the general fund subsidy of the San Mateo Medical Center has increased by 46 percent. If this trend continues, said Mr. Maltbie, by 2014 the center will consume more than 60 percent of the general fund property tax revenues, which help finance the county’s criminal justice services, municipal services in unincorporated areas, child welfare services and other key county services.
Supervisor Mark Church suggested that a parking tax at the San Francisco International Airport could be used as a potential revenue source.
“If we’re going to be serious about addressing these issues I think we need to be serious about finding new revenue sources,” Mr. Church said. “Many cities in the county already have a parking tax.”
Such a tax could generate upwards of $10 million for the county, he said.
That money could be funneled into the county’s structural fire protection fund and road fund, which are both facing major financial setbacks in the future.
A copy of the proposed budget is available on the Web site, www.co.sanmateo.ca.us.
— Bay City News Service
