PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s new budget proposal includes a 3 percent cut across the board instead of employee furloughs to save $1 million in the general fund.
An earlier proposal for twice-monthly furlough days to offset the $2.6 million shortfall has been dropped because of a time conflict with union negotiations and the charter-mandated budget process.
Clallam County Administrator Jim Jones will present a revised preliminary budget in a series of public forums beginning today at 6 p.m. in the commissioners’ board room (160) at the county courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
A West End forum is set for Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Forks City Council chambers, 500 E. Division St.
The third hearing on the preliminary budget is scheduled for Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Clallam County Public Utility District’s Carlsborg building, 110 Idea Place.
Elected officials and county department heads will determine whether layoffs are necessary in the coming weeks.
“I would guess, more than likely, at this point five or six [layoffs],” Jones said.
Clallam County’s 400-person work force was reduced by 12 positions through attrition in the past year.
“We’re already pretty well aware of a number of openings that we plan not to fill,” Jones said.
“I would anticipate that when people come back with their 3 percent cuts that there will be a few places that will require some layoffs, but it will certainly be less than 10 folks.”
Under new guidelines, the county is required to bargain furlough days with the unions that represent its employees.
“We had to negotiate with the unions to approve that, and it just didn’t work out,” Jones said.
“The unions didn’t say no, but the preconditions before they would sit down were impossible to meet in the time that we had in front of us, one, and No. 2, a couple of them were impossible to meet, period.”
Clallam County faces new challenges with the 2011 budget.
Investment revenue is projected to fall from $2.6 million per year to $400,000 per year. That $2.2 million loss accounts for 7.2 percent of the total revenue in the general fund.
Meanwhile, the county will soon be saddled with increases in state retirement fund payments.
The county’s contribution will jump from 5.3 percent of salaries to 8.7 percent of salaries beginning in July. That adds up to an additional $700,000 in expenses.
“The reality is we have to cut services,” Jones said.
“The reality is the days of continuing to do what we’ve always done, with the new reality of less revenues, are gone.
“This particular Board of Commissioners has been very steadfast in their belief that they’re not going to borrow money to maintain county government, and steadfast in that they’re not going to ask for new sources of revenue, new taxes, when there’s anything else that can be done.”
A 3 percent wholesale cut would make up $993,000 of the projected $2.58 million deficit, Jones said.
The other $1.59 million would be covered by the county’s $9.5 million general fund reserve, which was built up in better economic years over the past decade.
Drawing those reserves would leave $7.91 million in the rainy-day fund for 2012 and beyond.
Expenditures are projected to outweigh revenues $33.13 million to $30.57 million in the general fund, which accounts for core services such as law enforcement.
Jones met with elected officials and department heads for more than three hours Friday to come up with ways to balance the budget.
He said the parties agreed that a 3 percent across-the-board cut was preferable to finding large, specific cuts “which could be even more devastating to customer service and to our fellow employees.”
The parties also agreed that county services will be phased back over the next three years.
County officials will spend the next two weeks finding ways to cut their budgets by 3 percent. Legitimate sources of new revenue could offset the cuts.
“While I am hopeful that we can avoid layoffs altogether, I know that in some departments it will not be possible to make your cuts without them,” Jones wrote in a follow-up e-mail to elected officials Monday.
“I know you all will do the best you can.”
After Jones presents a recommended budget to the commissioners later this month, county officials will hold a second round of budget talks.
A public hearing will be held before a final budget is adopted on Dec. 14.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
