Grant County budget remains unchanged

EPHRATA - Some Grant County departments are struggling with a proposed 2012 budget, which is roughly the same as last year.

The preliminary budget for the general fund shrank by $4,000, coming in at $35 million. The general fund includes the prosecutor's, assessor's, sheriff's, clerk's, coroner's, treasurer's and auditor's offices, as well as superior, district and juvenile courts, the department of community development and the department of public defense.

Chief Accountant Ken Holloway said the county is trying to stay at the same level it was at this year.

"We're still basically looking at keeping things as low as possible," he said. "As far as any wage increases, they're still in negotiations ... Any new hires still have to go through approvals."

The stable budget follows a year without any raises, and cuts in staff numbers. The cuts during the past two years have affected many of the offices in the general fund.

"I am barely able to complete our revaluation on time each year. We are at an absolute minimum without affecting service," Assessor Laure Grammer stated.

Grammer lost four full-time positions, spreading the work across the remaining people. The increased workload affects each employee differently, she stated.

"Morale has been OK for the past couple of years but the staff are feeling it," she stated. "I think most staff are just grateful for their jobs in these trying times. Further, staff have been asked, 'Would you rather have fewer positions with good salary or less salary and more positions?' This is a hard question but most have indicated the prior. With the greater increase of work to be accomplished by each staff, I don't know if this would be their answer today."

The switch from assessing property in county quarterly to annually has saved the county money, Grammer stated. Now the assessors physically inspect a smaller section of the county every year, covering the entire county in six years rather than four.

Clerk Kim Allen lost two employees due to the budget cuts in 2009, but court filings rose, she stated; adding her personnel costs next year are expected to fall due to attrition.

"I have a great staff," she stated. "They jump in and get the job done no matter what, but often times it is barely enough to keep us afloat in order to keep up with the demands of the Superior Court case load, dockets and trial schedules as well as service to the public. The lack of raises definitely affects morale; however, some employees have also expressed that they are grateful just to have a job during this poor economic time."

Grammer and Allen wanted to see the employees get raises if more money becomes available.

"The business of the County is information and service," Grammer stated. "Without staff, qualified staff, you might as well close the doors and go home. Our staff have been taking it for the past six years without effective raises that I don't know how much more can be asked of them. With more money we should shore up our greatest resource, our staff."

Sheriff Tom Jones lost two deputy positions and a correctional officer position between the sheriff's office and the jail. He stated the cuts and the lack of salary increases affected morale, but they know a job needs to get done.

"The morale, although I am sure is tied to the lack of salary increases, most of our employees understand that they are not alone," he stated. "This is going on across the country, in both private and public sectors."

The office asked the commissioners to consider hiring more detectives and correctional officers next year, Jones stated. The four new correctional officer positions would cost $279,112 and the two detective positions would cost $222,678.

"In the case of our major crimes detectives, they are burning the candle at both ends as the number and types of cases they are assigned on a regular basis are on the rise," he stated. "Our correctional staff are often times working in and amongst a number of inmates that may be in custody for something as simple as not having a valid drivers license to rape or murder. That can be pretty unnerving when you stop and think about your odds should the inmate population decide they want to cause harm to our employees or interfere with the orderly operation of the jail."

The cuts haven't affected the level of service, but with the number of people the office lost in the past six or seven years is stretching the office, Jones stated. Any additional cuts would result in losing personnel.

"It is not like we have multi-thousand dollar line item budgets that will allow for cuts that are significant enough in most cases to make the difference," he stated. "We still have provide the funding for the day-to-day operation of our jail, support and patrol personnel allowing them to do their job - i.e. fuel for our patrol vehicles, food, clothing and medical services for those in custody - which we are obligated to by law - and the pens, paper and numerous documents required to make our office run."

The sheriff's office is reactive. Jones pointed out they can't control the amount of calls they receive, or the 9-1-1 calls they respond to. The deputies have begun making phone calls for the "more benign calls for service" instead of showing up in person.

"I am not any happier with that than most of these victims or complainants," he stated. "What may seem insignificant in the eyes of our employees in the grand scheme of things may be the most important thing happening in the life of that victim and we should be meeting their needs on a level beyond a phone call. With few exceptions we should be making face-to-face contact with our citizens."

The sheriff's office is still responding to property crimes. Jones pointed out some agencies in the state stopped responding to property crimes unless the victim loses thousands of dollars. They send a form to fill out for insurance purposes.

"We are not there yet and I hope we will never be but at some point if our numbers (of personnel) continues to decline and the number of calls continues to increase, something will have to give. Remember I am not just the sheriff in this county, I am a citizen as well," he stated. "My family and I are as subject to being the victim of a crime as the next person and I want to ensure, whatever steps we take today are ones that will stand the test of time and be of value to our citizens at all levels."

Other offices and departments have weathered the previous budgets better.

Prosecutor Angus Lee's budget has maintained the same levels without cutbacks in the amount of attorneys on staff.

"Although my office budget has been cut three times since I took over the prosecutor's office in 2009, I have actually increased the number of deputy prosecutors in my criminal division by 30 percent," he stated. "I was able to do this by restructuring the office and by eliminating some wasteful spending."

He pointed out the gap of funding between the prosecutor's office and the department of public defense. The public defenders budget was roughly $200,000 higher than the prosecutor's office in 2011.

"I know I can always be more effective with greater resources, but as a former Marine I also know that it is my duty to do the best possible job of fighting crime with the resources I am given by the board of commissioners," he stated.

Coroner Craig Morrison stated his office didn't request any additional money and wasn't expecting any.

"My budget is pretty simple compared to a lot of county office budgets," he stated. "We don't have a lot of fluff here nor any room for error. My budget is checked weekly at my office and monthly with the records of the county. Doing business that way keeps things current. This way there are no surprises at budget hearing time."

Human Resources Director Tammie Hechler said the cutbacks in her department made it more efficient and effective. The department lost a staff member last year.

"We have cut down on using an attorney for our union negotiations. We also laid off an employee, which saves in salary and benefits costs. We utilized different companies for training which saved us money as well as changing and/or renegotiating contracts at lower rates," she stated.