TRUCKEE/TAHOE, Calif. — As officials from Sacramento begin looking at entities across the state for budget cuts in the shadow of Gov. Jerry Brown’s initial $12.5 billion reduction plan, those locally are assessing ways to minimize service level impacts should they be called on to contribute.

Placer County Executive Officer Tom Miller said the cuts will likely impact the county as the plan calls for local jurisdictions to meet service needs in area where the state cuts back.

For instance, individuals who rely on in-home health care through the Medi-Cal program will see diminished funding from the state, meaning those people will rely on the county for services.

“The county is the last bastion of assistance in those instances,” Miller said. “When you diminish services in one area to a dependent population, someone has to fill in.”

Miller said the county further anticipates about a $1 million reduction to public safety, meaning the county is mulling cutting Placer County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officers and Pop Officers, who patrol the streets and act as community liaisons.

Brown’s proposed budget also calls for an extension of the amount of time inmates can spend in county jail versus state prison. Currently, prisoners can spend a maximum of one year in county jail. Brown wants jails to keep inmates for as long as three years.

Miller said in 2010, that would have meant 274 more individuals would have been kept at county jail. Miller further estimates that housing, meals and health care amounts to $30,000 per inmate meaning the measure carries a financial burden.

Brown’s cuts also call for CalFire to begin billing local jurisdictions for responses to fires and medical emergencies, Miller said.

While Miller is leery of possible additional financial burdens, he said the return of services to smaller government means constituents have more say in how services are administered and budgetary dollars are allocated.

“Citizens are able to voice their preferences at local meetings, whereas the state legislature makes it difficult for people to become involved,” Miller said.

Sierra College officials are expecting $4 million to $5 million in cuts to the four-campus system, one of which resides in Truckee.

The cuts are part of $400 million in reductions to the California Community College system and another nearly $10 million for state veterans’ services.

Leaders in both camps vowed to fight the depth of the reductions to avoid service cuts.

Some statewide education leaders called the cuts to the community college system — which includes an extra $10 per course charge to students to raise revenues — “shortsighted.”

The cuts could turn away up to 350,000 students from the system each year, even as University of California and California State University systems also tighten enrollment.

“If just 2 percent more of California’s population earned associate degrees, and 1 percent more earned bachelor’s degrees, the state’s economy would grow by $20 billion,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott.

Sierra College has a $93 million annual budget.

“We’re hopeful our reserves will cover us,” said Sierra College Board President Aaron Klein.

Law enforcement officers have also been put on the chopping block with major cuts planned for staffing, programs and supplies.

Tony Prisco, a local information officer for the California Highway Patrol, said the CHP budget has been slashed by 10 percent and all non-critical programs are being considered for budget saving.

“We are slowly losing people through the retirements and through transfers, and you won’t see as many CHP officers as you see now,” Prisco said.

Officers who retire are not going to be replaced, Prisco said, and all non-essential overtime has been cut; decreases also have been made to officer pensions.

Another significant cut will be made in vehicle replacements, he said. Typically, CHP vehicles would be used for 125,000 to 150,000 miles before they were replaced. Now, Prisco said the vehicles will be run indefinitely until replacement is mandatory.

Enforcement programs such as airplane and helicopter services are also being seriously evaluated for cuts.

And this is far from the end, Prisco said even minutia such as thermostats and fuel consumption are being evaluated.

Looking back a few years to when the economy was thriving, Prisco said economy woes have completely altered the CHP hiring process as well.

“Four years ago we had banners out and we couldn’t get people to do our job,” he said. “Now, we have applicants on file to fill positions until 2013.”

Prisco said though all non-essential overtime has been cut, since resort traffic management is reimbursed such as around Alpine Meadows, Squaw and Northstar ski resorts, that traffic service will continue to be in effect during the busy winter weekends.

Brown’s proposed budget calls for $11 million in spending cuts to California State Parks in fiscal year 2011-12, and then another $11 million for 2012-13.

Roy Stearns, deputy director of communications for California State Parks, called the proposed cuts “very significant.”

“At this point, it is pretty much a certainty that we will be closing a number of parks across the state,” he said. “It’s important to understand that this governor is attempting to find budget solutions for a long-term fiscal crisis in this state.”

Stearns said the parks system has yet to prioritize a list of parks that could be subject to closure, but said low revenues and low visitations will be factors in the decision making process.

“There will probably not be an area spared by closures,” he said. “We have 70 million visitors a year to the parks, with a good percentage of those visitors. We have amazing parks: large beautiful desserts, the largest trees in the world, a great coastline and Lake Tahoe is a stunning area. If people can’t have access to those places, the may go somewhere else.”

Grass Valley Union Reporter Kyle Magin contributed to this story.