The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors got a brief, albeit bleak, budget report from County Administrative Officer (CAO) Rick Benson on Tuesday morning. Benson had recently attended a meeting of all CAOs in California.

Benson said that in the past early budget projections haven’t worried him much. “I’m very nervous this time,” he told the board on Tuesday morning. “The plan, if that’s what you want to call it, is very tenuous.”

The state faces a deficit of $19.9 billion in the coming fiscal year, and Benson said the “serious expenditure reductions” will likely come from health and social services and will be painful. “It’s very dramatic what they’re looking at,” he said of the state.

The governor’s budget proposal includes a shift in how gas tax is allocated to local government. If it changes, it could have serious implications to Mariposa County roads. Benson explained the change as “really a lot of smoke and mirrors” that helps the state reduce its obligation to public education.

Still, Benson knows that what is proposed is not likely to be what is passed. “No one really expects this it will be implemented,” budget plan, “because it’s impractical.”

The state is expected to have adequate cash flow through April, and Benson said no tax increases are proposed. “There just isn’t anymore to go after,” he said. “We’ve run out of rich people,” in California.

Mariposa County remains in better fiscal shape than most. Benson said he was one of just three or four other CAOs that didn’t have to report mid-year cuts or massive layoffs at the meeting. Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) held steady last month, but sales tax revenue declined.

The continued budget crisis has the CAO cautious, however. “I’m going to stop saying we’re doing OK,” he said. “We’re treading water. Other counties are under water.”

Supervisor Janet Bibby said she is hearing bad news from neighboring counties. “It’s getting more grim,” she said of unemployment and other economic indicators.

Board Chairman Kevin Cann noted the importance of the revenue tourism brings in. “TOT is becoming an even greater percentage of our income,” he said.

The County will have a midyear budget review in the near future.