Commissioners put wrap on budget for this year

Whitman County commissioners unanimously on Monday approved the 2014 budget but with a bit of reluctance.

In a discussion before the meeting, board Chairman Michael Largent said there is no alternative to the budget cuts.

“Certain cuts are necessary,” he said.

“Department managers will make cuts and that doesn’t necessarily mean employees,” he said.

Largent said the biggest change will be biennial budgeting. Beginning in 2015 the county will no longer be looking at an annual budget, but will budget for two years.

During the regular meeting Monday morning as commissioners discussed the budget, Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers spoke up.

“I would continue my protest, but we only have a day and a half left,” he said. “I think I’ve made my points clear.”

In past budget discussions, Myers voiced his unhappiness with budget cuts for his department.

On Oct. 21, commissioners, along with department managers, learned that the projected budget deficit was a little more than $1.3 million for the general fund budget. This is the difference between the county’s projected revenue and the proposed expenditures of county departments.

Gary Petrovich, county administrative director, said the deficit results from decreased revenue and increased expenses.

In spite of gaining additional sales tax from the First Wind turbine project, the county still faced the $1.3 million deficit.

Petrovich said that property taxes from the wind turbine project paid off a $650,000 loan for a heating and cooling system in the jail building.

Petrovich said the county received construction sales tax from the wind farm in 2012 as well as this year. The first year for property taxes from the wind turbines will come in 2014.

However, the most affected department in the budget process is law enforcement and Sheriff Myers was not happy when he heard his department’s budget was cut by a total of more than $323,000. The 2014 operating budget is $50,000 below what it was in 2013, he said.

The sheriff’s office budget began with a proposed $3,540,230. Initial cuts through the budget process whittled it down to $3,445,636. Further adjustments brought the budget to $3,337,851. Another $121,000 was cut, bringing the department’s budget to $3,216,816.

“I have a concern about the county’s budget process,” Myers told commissioners during an informal budget discussion a few weeks ago. “To cut another $120,000 from the sheriff’s office budget is not doable.”

Myers said he has notified one deputy that his position will be eliminated some time in 2014.

“Obviously, these are major cuts,” Myers said at the time commissioners were still deliberating on the budget. “I disagree with how commissioners came to these cuts. I simply can’t get to an additional $121,000 without cutting positions.”

Myers also has been complimented by county officials about how efficiently his department runs.

“Because of our smoothness and efficiency, they think we can absorb a hit,” Myers said. “Public safety has a target on it.”

In spite of the cuts and his concern about the budget, Myers remains dedicated, as does his department.

“I’ll do what we have to do,” he said. “It’s not the right move by the board of commissioners.”

Myers said he has not filled a deputy position because of budget constraints which leaves the department with one less deputy.

No one from the public attended the first public hearing about the budget on Dec. 16, but Myers, along with county Treasurer Bob Lothspeich and Auditor Eunice Coker attended. Myers spoke up again about the cuts to his department’s budget.

“My agency will always be a target,” Myers told commissioners at one meeting.

Commissioners aren’t happy with the budget either and blame the state legislature on unfunded mandates.

“This is one of the more difficult budgets I’ve had to deal with,” Largent said on Monday. “The board has made it clear that the budget must be sustainable. If there is no more revenue, there will be more cuts in the future.”

“We will be doing a biennial budget starting in 2015,” Largent said.

Largent also said that when voters cast ballots for a levy lift in February, commissioners will know how the budget will go. If voters don’t approve the levy lift, budget cuts are inevitable.

“We’ll have to figure out more cuts for the next budget,” Commissioner Art Swannack said.