With talk swirling that stagflation is now a genuine possibility and that a recession is likely — due to the economic upheaval triggered by the White House — Santa Barbara County Executive Mona Miyasato counseled the county supervisors this week, “If you can’t change the course of a storm, be the lighthouse.”
Her remarks came as the supervisors waded into the first of three days of budget deliberations in preparation of the June 17 vote. Though the county should be able to make it through the coming fiscal year starting this June, Miyasato warned it will be a status quo budget. All department heads — with the exception of Sheriff Bill Brown — submitted spending plans in accordance with that. But Brown is seeking $2.7 million additional operating revenues and $710,000 in one-time revenues for nine separate programs.
Public Safety currently consumes 52 percent of all discretionary dollars under the supervisors’ purview. Of the $1.67 billion budget, $407 million are deemed discretionary. The biggest hit — about $10 million — is at the Department of Social Services. (Those cuts will be achieved by keeping vacant positions unfilled.) But Miyasato noted with alarm that in Congress, the Energy and Commerce Committee is looking to cut $880 billion in social services funding and the Agriculture Committee plans to cut $230 billion from the food stamp program.