Grant County 2011 budget to remain the same

EPHRATA - The Grant County commissioners instructed offices and

departments to plan to keep their budgets the same for 2011.

The commissioners sent a memo to the county divisions stating

the budget proposals are due Oct. 30, so they can start with next

year's budget process.

EPHRATA - The Grant County commissioners instructed offices and departments to plan to keep their budgets the same for 2011.

The commissioners sent a memo to the county divisions stating the budget proposals are due Oct. 30, so they can start with next year's budget process.

The memo states the proposals should remain at 2010 levels including the deductions made in July.

The county asked the departments and offices to cut 1.7 percent from their budgets, totaling a $550,000 cut county-wide in the current expense fund. The fund includes several areas, including the sheriff's, prosecutor's, assessor's, auditor's and treasurer's offices along with district and superior courts.

"We're just trying to play it safe," Commissioner Cindy Carter said. "We're anticipating we're going to have the same level of revenue that we had in July."

The commissioners don't anticipate a salary increase, but negotiations with the labor unions are still ongoing, she said, adding if expenses increase, the county will need to find areas to decrease.

"We're not proposing any wage increases, but the unions could propose something different," Carter said. "I think it's going to be easier this year ... I think everybody is going to be careful. We might have a big surprise and find we have more revenue than we expected, but we're just playing it safe."

The new budget will follow a year when the county went to registered warrants to cover expenses at least once. Treasurer Darryl Pheasant said it's likely the county will borrow money from a different area, such as Public Works, to pay for the items in the current expense fund.

"Our normal expenses in the current expense fund is $2.5 to $2.7 million (a month.) We had a balance of $1.15 million at the end of August. We expect to be in registered warrants sometime this month."

Pheasant expects the county will be out of registered warrants after people start paying the second half of their property taxes in October, and may dip back in November. The rest of the property tax revenue should push the fund back out of registered warrants.

The county is attempting to rebuild its reserves and have about $1.75 million left in the current expense fund, and add $1.75 million next year. The money will help the county avoid having registered warrants by covering the leaner revenue months.