Grant County to avoid layoffs, furloughs

Departments find $550,000

EPHRATA — Grant County hopes to avoid layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts with a $550,000 cut to its budget.

The cut came after the state Department of Revenue decided to withhold about $400,000 in sales tax and additional drops in other revenues including sales tax and investment income. The state took the money to refund a Quincy company for overpaying its taxes.

As a result, the commissioners asked each department to cut 1.75 percent from their budgets. Offices submitted various plans including not filling positions, closures and cuts in supplies.

“It looks like there was enough money that they (the departments) were able to cut that we’ll be able to do this without furloughs and without layoffs,” Commissioner Cindy Carter said. “I can’t be 100 percent sure ... We might be looking at them in the later part of the year, but, right now, if everybody can follow their budget, if the expenses are down and revenues go as projected, we can.”

Carter credited several departments with exceeding their goals. The assessor’s office exceeded its goal by roughly $80,000 by not filling two positions. The building and planning department postponed a $50,000 update to the Grant County code.

“We have several departments that were overachievers,” she said. “We wanted to see what we could cut without touching furloughs ... I think it’s been successful. I feel good about the numbers we got.”

The new proposed budget has been sent to all of the departments to see if there are any changes, Carter said, adding she didn’t know when the final date for the proposed budget is.

“We will be looking at it once everybody looks at the budget,” she said. “They get their spreadsheets back to us, and we will go from there.”