County’s budget clock ticking down to deadline

A public hearing on Whitman County’s 2011 budget will be next Monday. County commissioners, though, are unsure what they will present to the public because they have yet to receive a complete draft on next year’s spending plan from Auditor Eunice Coker.

“Well, I guess we’ll listen to what the public has to say, that’s what a public hearing is all about,” said Commissioner Greg Partch. “But I’m not sure what they will say with nothing to look at.”

Auditor Coker took over budget preparation after commissioners dissolved the county’s finance department in June. She cited state law that puts the a...