County faces tough financial times

Early estimate shows $1.4 million hole for indigent defense

Bad news, it seems, has come in threes for Grant County government.

County commissioners have announced a hiring freeze for the rest of the year as three strikes are taking their toll on county coffers.

A judge's ruling against the county, rising unbudgeted indigent-defense costs and a depletion of law and justice reserve funds mean the county will tighten its belt when hiring new employees.

"No one gets hired unless the position is critical to county government," said Commissioner Deborah Moore, adding that commissioners will determine what "critical" means.

The biggest strike is the hole created by the county's attempts to fix its problems with indigent defense. In a preliminary estimate from commissioners, Grant County must account for $1.4 million in unbudgeted expenses for criminal defense this year.

For its budgeted expenses, commissioners estimate the county will be short $1,130 for 2004.

These figure were provided to commissioners by Susan Bauer, who works in the commissioners' office. In a note attached to the document, she called the numbers a "worst-case scenario" and a "moving target" as case appointments among conscripted and contracted attorneys continues to

change.

The largest chunk of the unbudgeted funds include an estimated $160,000 for the indigent defense of teen-agers Jake Eakin and Evan Savoie, who are accused of murdering fellow playmate Craig Sorger.

Bauer also estimated $750,000 devoted to anticipated murder case filings, which include the death of 2-year-old Ephratan Raffy Gomez.

"Going into next year, we see a really big budget crunch," Commissioner Tim Snead said.

The increased costs are coupled with a depletion in reserve funds. Since Initiative 695 (which regulated the motor-vehicle excise tax) was declared unconstitutional, local governments have received funding back from the state. Grant County has placed that money in its law and justice

account.

Commissioners diverted $1.2 million from that fund to balance the 2004 budget, Snead said. For 2005, only one-third (roughly $230,000) of the usual amount of reserve funds will be available, he said.

"Our major problem is funding. That's our major problem. There's no funding," Snead said.

The county could take another unexpected hits in the pocketbook when a Kittitas County Superior Court judge recently ruled in favor of Advanced Silicon Materials, Inc. (ASiMI) in a property-assessment lawsuit against the county.

The judge ruled that ASiMI has overpaid its 2003 taxes, which could mean the county and its junior taxing districts would have to pay back a total of $2.6 million tax dollars already collected to the company, according to Treasurer Darryl Pheasant.

The county plans to appeal the case, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steve Hallstrom said, and it could be more than a year before a final ruling is made.

The county hiring freeze will still allow county departments to request to fill some positions. For example, Grant County Chief Deputy John Dazell will retire this summer, and the sheriff's office expects to promote John Turley, a current patrol officer and former chief deputy, according to Undersheriff Ken Kernan.

Kernan said the sheriff's office is in the process of appealing for the ability to hire another patrol officer to replace Turley.