First it was the directors of health and human services and social services accepting early retirement incentives from the county. Then 11 county employees came forward to be terminated as part of a program to incentivize voluntary layoffs. Two weeks later, it was Amador's airport director narrowly avoiding the termination notice that arrived for seven other full-time employees, as well as some part-time county staff, all of whom were laid off at a Feb. 10 board of supervisors meeting.

The same day supervisors reluctantly approved the personnel reductions, the county's public works director quietly accepted one of the early layoffs, acknowledging the county was in "a really tough financial spot" expected to grow even worse next year.

Larry Peterson, who became the county's public works director in January 2005, after his predecessor, Rod Schuler, retired, told the Ledger Dispatch he and county officials had been examining different scenarios for a while, plotting out what would happen if a $42 billion state deficit was stabilized, in part, by deferring gas tax revenues or Proposition 42 money for traffic congestion relief.

The state deferred gas tax money to counties for five months last year. Though the funding stream was eventually reinstated, Peterson said the loss of two months' worth of gas tax funds left their mark on his department.

"That was a gutkick just to have that happen," he said. What happens, county officials wondered, if that money was deferred again, for an even longer period. With the added doubt of Proposition 42 money and the phased withdrawal of federal aid to counties with federal forest lands, "it's pretty grim what happens to the public works funding stream when those funds disappear or are interrupted," Peterson said. Even federal stimulus money would probably deliver only $750,000 for shovel-ready construction projects, Peterson added. "That only paves maybe 2 miles of road."

So instead of considering the prospect of making "significant layoffs" to an agency that had already lost four employees through attrition, Peterson decided to remove himself - with his salary and benefits - from the equation in an attempt to retain core services like snow removal and sign replacement.

This all occurred before a state budget compromise was struck early Thursday.

"Whether it's premature or not, I can't say," Peterson said of his stepping down hours before legislators secured the final Republican vote to pass the budget.

The budget authorizes the state to take out $6 billion in bonds to cover bills that will not get paid in the current fiscal year. Lawmakers expect to avoid this loan by using federal aid. The state will also transfer $400 million from various special funds.

At the very least, Peterson said, his stepping down allows the county some organizational flexibility. He noted that Calaveras County has been without a permanent public works director for two years, while Alpine County was eyeing extensive cuts, including the possible loss of its public works director.

"There's a lot this county can do on an interim basis," Peterson said, referring to core services and processing permit applications. What's lost, he said, will be long-term infrastructure planning, which would happen anyway just because of the lack of resources. "It's not wise long-term, but they're in an emergency situation."

Peterson will soon look for other employment opportunities, and he hopes they will be nearby. He hasn't ruled out doing consulting work for the county, but said it's unrealistic the county will be able to hire him back anytime soon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.