Flat revenues bring some cuts for Adams County

The Adams County Commissioners budget for 2012 shows relatively little change from the previous budget, mainly because of the current economy and it not being a time for drastic changes.

“There is not a lot of change from last year, revenue is relatively flat, but flat is good during these economic times. We just don’t feel like we are in a position to go to the voters and ask for additional funding,” said current chairman, Rudy Plager.

“The bottom line, there are various areas that we made some cuts. The most drastic being to public health, and building and planning. We cut one position in building and planning,” said Plager.

The position cut in building and planning happened due to a lack of building in Ritzville, and the reasoning being that two positions probably would not be necessary. The cut from building and planning is not believed to directly impact the general public.

“We cut about $60,000 out of public health, the rational for that is that there is funding from the state that is being cut. It would have been new money from the county to offset the cost from the state,” said Plager.

The cut to public health means changes in services, but when the public health program will feel the impact of the loss of funding is unknown. The public health program decides how the loss of funding impacts the services and what cuts to make, the commissioners do not play a role in that decision.

The new current expense total as of Dec. 21, 2011, showed the expected 2012 expenditures to be $7,049,994.

The 2012 budget predicts an ending fund balance to be $709,532 on Dec. 31, 2012.

The main reason for the decision to not have drastic changes is because of the current reserves. The county has about $1 million in reserve, a position that the commissioners did not want to jeopardize by increasing funding or making cuts to current budgets.

With the state preparing to make cuts to various organizations, the commissioners know some of the responsibility will fall to them and the budget might have to make up the loss of funding from the state.

Local governments expect to be impacted directly by the current and future fiscal situation of the state, and the decisions in funding the state may make.

In other departments, such as law enforcement, there had been a desire to offer more jobs. The sheriff asked for another deputy and corrections officer, and while the request is not extreme, the commissioners did not believe they could fund both positions and continue the current funding.

Juvenile also showed interest in adding a position, but since that position is covered by a grant, it remains funded by that specific grant instead of being an expense of the county.

Discussions about environmental health fees continue, but there are not any expected increases in that department. The commissioners continue to look at the fees that are charged, look for comparables and see if Adams County is in line with other counties in the area and the state.

The decision to approve the 2012 budget came with realizing the economic situation with the state, and realizing the potential cuts at the state level could greatly affect the local government. The cuts made were based on the belief that the departments could still function efficiently with the decreased funding.