Running out of adjectives, public officials continue to give alarming budget updates, including in Amador County.

"Almost incomprehensible," County Administrative Officer Terri Daly said Tuesday in describing California's cash crisis, which, she said, in large part determines Amador County's budget fate. It's dismal, Daly added, with the county Department of Social Services likely having to borrow from the general fund. "That's never happened before," Daly said.

Daly gave numbers for Amador, but prefaced her remarks by saying "rumors are flying of outright state cuts of, for example, Community Oriented Policing Services and Williamson Act (subsidies)."

So, trying to stay ahead of that kind of curve during fiscal year 2009-10, Amador has cut its general fund spending by 9.6 percent, while general fund revenues are down 1.2 percent, Daly said.

"For all other funds - for example roads and mental health - revenues are down 12.7 percent, and expenditures are down 17.4 percent," she continued.

Social services has a $1.6 million deficit.

She said a county "carry-forward" policy, apart from a cash-reserve policy, is being affected in the current crisis. The effect, she said, spells trouble for next year's budget, and for the year after that. Counties customarily do business on the basis of a carry-forward policy.

"Every year, you have revenues of $6 million to $9 million over expenses," Daly said. "If this year we devastate the carry-forward, that means next year's budget has to budget that much lower."

Supervisors discussed how a county could fail under current budget strictures. They agreed that Amador is not in the same shape that Trinity County is, for example - a county that is contemplating fiscal failure - but is in some peril nonetheless.

"We're going to have to get relief," said District 4 Supervisor Louis Boitano. "But a lot of counties are worse off than we are."