Hard solutions ahead to balance county budget

Some offices say they have no place left to cut

Benefit reduction, shorter work days and staff elimination.

Those were three of the most serious options presented to Grant County commissioners Wednesday afternoon by county elected officials and department heads in response to a call for 4 and 7 percent budget-cut scenarios.

At the last preliminary budget meeting, commissioners had requested the scenarios in anticipation of dwindling revenues in 2005. None of these proposed cuts are set in stone, but Commissioner Leroy Allison has said the commission wants to see some options before the budget process begins in full.

The 2004 budget is $21,917,201 million. A 4 percent cut equals $876,688, and a 7 percent cut equals $1.53 million.

The commissioners themselves presented scenarios slashing $77,115 and $134,953 from their budget for each scenario, respectively.

The commissioners made some of those cuts from smaller funds, such support for the Eastern Washington Council of Governments and local youth activities.

But the largest slice came from the proposed elimination of one full-time staff position ($40,000) and the reduction of funds for the Grant County Fair (about $145,000) to reach the 7 percent mark.

"This certainly wasn't easy," County Commissioner Deborah Moore said.

However, some elected officials refused to supply any numbers, saying they had no fat to trim from their budgets.

County Auditor Bill Varney said he has little control over election expenses because of federal and state mandates.

On the auditing side, Varney said he could slice $5,000 from the support-accounting costs and hope no major changes occur, cut temporary help and make one position half time.

"I can't come up with a nice little number for you," he said.

Neither could County Sheriff Frank De Trolio, who instead pointed out the savings his office has brought the county.

For example, the sheriff said he reduced overtime pay in the jail by switching to 12-hour shifts, left unfilled one corrections officer position and abandoned a plan for a new jail facility.

Additionally, De Trolio said he returned $264,000 in reserve funds to the county in 2003 to help balance the budget.

"We feel we've done an awful lot to help the county in their budget woes," De Trolio said.

"Without cutting staff, I can't cut any dollars from my budget," he added. "There's no fat in my budget. At this point, it's not workable."

County Treasurer Darryl Pheasant said he could fund one position from the his office's operations and maintenance fund instead of current expenses, which would improve the numbers but keep the actual amount of dollars spent the same.

Pheasant added that he looked at cutting postage costs for mass mailings but feared the repercussions of the lost service.

"The public isn't going to want to not be told about things," he said.

County Clerk Ken Kunes said his budget is based on the amount of legal work sent to his office by law enforcement, prosecutors and the superior court.

Kunes' biggest cost, he said, is the benefits package offered to employees. Grant County pays full medical, dental and vision costs for employees, their spouses and their children, and Kunes said the county could save hundreds of thousands by "slicing those benefits to the bone.

"I know that's cruel, but that's the bottom line," Kunes said.

Moore said the county budgeted $5 million for benefits in 2004.

Derek Pohle, Grant County planner, warned commissioners not to venture too far into benefit cuts.

"If we hack them too far, we won't have these quality people to provide those services," he said.

Moore said Grant County's experience is not unlike that of other counties. For example, King County has cut $100 million from its budget during the last three years and seen a reduction of 10 percent of its employees.

In an interview after the meeting, Moore said she was glad the different departments were able to hear how their budgets may impact each other.

For example, a reduction in county bonus days may benefit the district-court budget, as Administrator Carol Crater stated, but hurt De Trolio when he's competing with the Washington State Patrol for employees.

Because the budget is so tight, Moore said, the solutions will not be easy.

"No matter what decisions are made, we're not going to satisfy everyone's needs 100 percent," she said.