By Bruce Murphy, includes “Over the past decade, the county has eliminated more than 1,000 jobs, and cut back its office spaces and facilities by three million square feet … The county may also have problems keeping up with the maintenance of county highways it is responsible for … The county’s financial problems could eventually force it to liquidate assets, the WPF warned … ‘The result is each year we start our budget process with figuring out how to close a structural budget gap instead of focusing on making investments that will best help residents.’ …”