Word of a budget deal in Sacramento spread across Ventura County on Monday, but with details hard to come by, city and county officials could only speculate on what the budget might mean.

The mood was mostly one of relief, both because a state budget is finally on its way, three months late, and because it probably won't involve borrowing any of the money that's supposed to go to city and county governments.

The news wasn't all good from a local point of view. Cities are especially worried because the budget could include major cuts to funds designated for redevelopment areas. And by moving money from next year to this year to cover part of its current $15.2 billion deficit, the state still hasn't done anything to fix its long-term budget problems.

"On the one hand, it's nice to know the state has come to terms on its proposed budget. On the other hand, the devil is in the details," Thousand Oaks City Manager Scott Mitnick said.

The $103.4 billion budget being considered by the Legislature includes $9 billion in spending cuts. The exact nature of the cuts wasn't known, but it's rumored that about $350 million will come from redevelopment agency funds, Simi Valley City Manager Mike Sedell said.

Cities and counties could also lose some road funding, said Jay Panzica, chief financial officer for the city of Ventura.

According to information provided to the County of Ventura from the California State Association of Counties, the proposed budget includes no new cuts to health, human services or education programs beyond those already introduced by Senate Democrats. In fact, schools would receive $300 million more than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed in his August budget, for a total of $58.1 billion.

Marty Robinson, county executive officer, said providers of state-funded health and welfare services — which include many private charities, hospitals and other nonprofit groups — will welcome the passage of any budget because their state grants have been held up since July.

"When you're talking about those nonprofits, group homes and such, when you go three months, you're putting some real strain on your budget," Robinson said.

The county has enough reserve funds to keep paying its bills even when there's no state budget. Once the state budget passes, Robinson said, the county should be reimbursed about $24 million that the state hasn't provided over the past three months.

Robinson said her biggest concern with the proposed budget is a provision that legislators are calling "accelerated revenue."

"It's magic and mirrors to me," she said.

Under the scheme, the state will take money that it was planning to receive next year and move it into this year's budget. That helps shrink the current deficit, but it means that the money won't be there when the 2009-10 fiscal year rolls around.

"The state is very talented in terms of balancing its budget on paper, but it's not balanced in reality," Mitnick said.

"Accelerated revenue" is just one "Band-Aid approach" the state uses to avoid coming to terms with persistent, structural deficits, Mitnick said. Lawmakers have never found a reliable way to replace the money lost when vehicle license fees were cut in 2003, he said.

"The state of California hasn't looked the taxpayer in the eye to deal with the fundamental budget problem," he said. "At some point, that day of reckoning is going to come."