PORT ANGELES — Clallam County officials will try to balance a $2.4 million budget shortfall without laying off workers in series of meetings Thursday.
County Administrator Jim Jones said 30 layoffs are needed to make up the deficit in the $30.4 million general fund.
Jones was required by county charter to present a balanced recommended budget Oct. 4. He and the three commissioners met with ranking members of 10 departments in the first round of budget meetings on Friday.
“Each department came in with their ideas,” Jones said.
“Some said, ‘Well, what if I do this, or what if we do that?’”
Jones said some department managers “stepped up to the plate” and offered to take furlough days to cut costs.
No announcements will be made until a draft budget is written next month, Jones said.
One way or another, the county has to bridge the $2.4 million gap and adopt a 2012 budget in early December.
Jones said he is optimistic that some of the 30 layoffs can be avoided.
Thirty people is nearly 8 percent of the county’s workforce of 385½.
The largest of the recommended cuts is $674,850 for Sheriff’s Office operations, community projects and jail.
The Sheriff’s Office is the largest department at the county with 24-hour law enforcement coverage and the 120-bed Clallam County jail.
So far, Sheriff Bill Benedict has identified $400,000 in new revenue and cuts.
“I’m doing all I can,” Benedict said.
“I’m not inclined to lay off deputies because I need every one I’ve got.”
Benedict said the Sheriff’s Office can generate more revenue by providing more jail space to the Department of Corrections to house short-term prisoners.
County officials have spent the past three years cutting costs. They say there isn’t any fat left to cut.
The county has shed 29 positions through attrition and four layoffs in the past two years. Customer service window hours were cut between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between noon and 12:30 p.m. in District Court No. 1 and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Clallam County built up a reserve fund in the mid-2000s that was used to balance the budget in recent years.
Since the reserve is getting close to the $6.5 million minimum set aside for emergencies, this year’s cuts will be more severe than usual.
The eight unions that represent county employees agreed to bargain last month but would not accept a one-year waiver on a pre-negotiated 3 percent cost-of-living pay increase.
No future negotiations with the unions were planned as of Monday.
One of the unions, the Teamsters, did agree that a reduction in hours would be an acceptable alternative to layoffs, Jones said.
The commissioners and Jones will take 10 percent pay cuts next year instead of laying off a member of their small support staff. Those cuts amount to $40,453 per year.
Since he oversees a much larger department, Benedict is facing more significant cuts. The recommendation is for seven layoffs — including two midlevel supervisors — and altering code enforcement.
Benedict said code enforcement would be restructured, not eliminated.
Other departments facing six-figure cutbacks are Clallam County District Court ($208,293), Community Development ($201,228), Prosecuting Attorney’s Office ($196,932), Superior Court ($195,425), Parks and Facilities ($166,268), Juvenile Services ($143,564) and indigent defense ($136,782).
The sheriff and his ranking staff will meet with commissioners Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Other departments with budget meetings Thursday are assessor, auditor, community development, Board of Equalization, District Court 2, Parks and Facilities, clerk, Juvenile Services, prosecuting attorney and Superior Court.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
