Each of the last two Februaries, the county has had to rip apart its original budget and make additional cuts - $27 million in all, plus risky one-time fund transfers the county still has to pay back.  Not this year, says Interim County Executive Steven Szalay:

Szalay: "The budget that the board adopted last summer made the necessary reductions that needed to be made to close the budget gap."

In other words, unlike their last two tries, the Board of Supervisors finally made enough sustainable cuts to get through the fiscal year.  Plus, the state budget didn't hit the county too hard and revenues are coming in right around where they were projected to be.  Still, Szalay says the county will head into nextyear's budget hearings with a $60 million deficit.  That's only a third of last year's original gap, but still a lot to cut.