inyo_courthouseInyo County Administrator Kevin Carunchio called it the tip of the iceberg. His analogies went further. “The fingers of the State Budget crisis,” said Carunchio, “have gone into the County wallet.”

At Tuesday’s Supervisors meeting, officials learned that more than $200,000 in public safety grants were possibly in jeopardy. With the California State Budget, it’s always hard to tell. But things don’t look good. Carunchio explained that Inyo relies on public safety grants. Now, this funding was shifted to vehicle licensee fees that expire in June. The grants fund Sheriff’s functions, including INET and funds for the District Attorney’s office.

Carunchio said there is no real assurance for as much as $223,000. The CAO said on Monday and email came from the State to say that of some $53,000 for the DA’s office, just over $17,000 is available.

Carunchio said on top of a $200,000 uncertainty, Inyo will apparently not get about $70,000 to cover county costs for the Big Pine Center Fire.

Carunchio said hopefully the Board will have more discussion about all of this next week. Inyo County Departments were much earlier ordered to bring updates to the Board of Supervisors weekly as things change in Sacramento.

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