STATEMENT BY LA COUNTY SUPERVISOR BARGER REGARDING PROPOSED COUNTY BUDGET

“Today’s budget presentation by CEO Fesia Davenport is an important reminder of the County’s role to provide essential services for millions of residents, and support for thousands of businesses and organizations, across the region. The demand for County services, such as food, housing, and health and mental health care, in conjunction with the increase in unemployment and homelessness, is staggering. 

“While I am pleased that today’s budget presentation illustrated we can maintain our level of services without layoffs, furloughs or programmatic decreases, the County’s financial situation is still fluid and we do not yet know the full economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we are unaware of the impact of allocating Measure J dollars to unknown programs and whether that could decrease available funding for existing services.

“I am eager to see a more comprehensive budget presented by the Chief Executive Office when the Board of Supervisors begins budget deliberations in May and June. I am hopeful that our financial health will remain and enable our Board to continue to provide essential services while also saving toward our ‘Rainy Day’ Fund – which proved crucial in the last year.”