Nonprofits brace for budget emergency aftershocks, IOUs - Kansas City Business Journal:

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While service providers don’t yet know whether they’lk receive IOUs — or what the amountd will be — Sparky Harlan, CEO of the in Santa is prepared forthe worst. “W e receive about $400,000 in state Harlan said. “We’re already accustomed to getting money from the stateelate — last year, for example, it took until December before we finally got paid.” For this year and last year the centet has relied on a $150,000 line of credit throughh to cover the gap, along with $500,000 out of its reservre funds. The center’s operating budget is $10 millio for fiscal 2009-10.
The money that may be on hold from thestatw covers, in part, the center’xs shelter and drop-in program, streey outreach, and parenting classes. “The problem right now is that we don’tf know for certain how much they’re goingt to hold back,” said who has been with the center for26 “But this is by far the worsr I’ve ever seen.” In anticipation of the state’s budget 10 percent cuts have already been plannec for foster-care payments. Locally there are 300 to 400 kids infosterd care.
Foster care rates are the same across the so familiesin high-cost areas such as the Bay Area get the same amountr of compensation as peopls in more affordable places. “We’re fronting half a milliohn dollars already,” she said. It’a a layered problem for the center, sincde in addition to state money some comes from the federakl Housing and UrbanDevelopment department. And Harlan said HUD is so slow it can take up to six months for payments tobe received. “We’re hoping to get paid by she said. “Nonprofits are just getting slammed.
” Harla n said the Bill Wilson Center has closed down two programes already and cut about 15 percent of its leaving about110 employees. These are real she pointed out — not attritiob or open jobs — and to do. “We had to give one staffd person a layoff notice and a week later his wife was laid off fromanothefr nonprofit,” she said. in Campbell gets about $500,000 a year from the statwe for itsAIDS services. CFO Ira Holtzmann said the agency is large enough and financially stabl e enough that he would just book an IOU as accountes receivable and hope the moneg camethrough eventually.
The Health Trust’s budgef for fiscal year 2010 is morethan $16 Holtzman said. Pam executive director of andVisually Impaired, which has officee in Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, said that even thougb her agency provides the kind of services that are especially at risk in Statew Controller John Chiang’s the Vista Center is relatively “We receive money through Title 7 Chapter 2 Brandin explained. “Since much of our fundingt is federalmoney we’re hoping that it has to be releaser and passed on; the state won’ft be allowed to hold on to it.
” The Vista Center also has school contracts through special education “Last year when the state had similar budget issueds we didn’t receive any IOUs,” she said, “but that situationn was resolved sooner than this appears to be. The agenciess that receive IOUsprobably won’t even know they’re cominvg until they submit their bills.” She’x also banking on Vista Center’s statu as a preferred vendor with the “so we’ll be paid in advance of othet vendors — if in fact the state is even writinv checks.
” Lisa Hendrickson, president CEO of Avenidas Rose Kleiner Senior Day Healtg Center in Palo Alto, is also cautiouslu optimistic. “The only funds we received from the state are MediCal payments for services provided at our adulrdaycare center,” she said. “Ourd understanding is that those services are protectedc by the state constitution as well asfedera law. We do receivse funding indirectly throughthe county, but we don’tt expect that to be affected.” Tom Kinoshita, public policy directord of the , said people are on pins and “Everyone’s sitting around waiting, not knowing what’ going to happen.
But even with the most optimisticcoutcome it’s still going to be very He pointed out that the deficity last year for Santa Clara County was more than $270 and many of the cuts were made in program around health, mental health, druge and alcohol and social services. And there’s no relief on the For 2011 the county is lookintg at a deficit ofabout $250 he said.