Walking a tight-rope without a sturdy safety net below can be a risky proposition.
But it’s a risk that the San Juan County Council appears willing to take.
Bucking advice of the county auditor, the council last week added back into the 2009 budget roughly $285,900 in spending following a series of line-item votes affecting 10 different programs or jobs that had previously been on the chopping block.
Lacking a sufficient number of votes, however, the council stopped just short of putting a final stamp of approval on the hotly-debated budget, which, once adopted, will serve as the county’s financial blueprint beginning next year. The council was expected on Tuesday to take another swing at final approval.
(See accompanying box for a list of jobs or expenses that – tentatively – escaped the knife).
Auditor Milene Henley advised the council that given the latest revenue figures, darkened by a stagnant November, the county will likely have about $200,000 less in the bank by the end of the year than previously predicted. She cautioned that a spending boost would reduce operating reserves down to about $1.2 million and could force the county to have to borrow during lean months, like September, to meet payroll and pay bills. She urged the council to “bite the bullet now.”
“As unfortunate as the cuts that have been proposed are, it is absolutely essential for the county to get into a sustainable budget,” Henley said.
Pending program cuts and job losses drew an impassioned crowd of islanders to the Dec. 2 public hearing on the ‘09 budget. They called on the council to find ways to protect senior services programs, support farmers by funding Agricultural Resources Committee’s coordinator and keep day-parks and public restrooms open.
David Dehlendorf of the San Juan Island Trails Committee offered money and a volunteer work force as a means of keeping the islands’ day-use parks open. The committee, he said, has raised $1,300 in donations and has 100 volunteers ready to help fund and maintain the parks and public toilets which, due to budget cuts, the Parks Department may be forced to close.
Parks and Recreation Department Director Dona Wuthnow said with the help of volunteers, restoration of a part-time support position and a grant from the lodging tax fund, at least three day-use parks may be able to remain open.
In mid-October, Administrator Pete Rose offered up an ‘09 budget proposal in which general fund spending and revenue balanced out at roughly $13.3 million. That fund covers the bulk of day-to-day expenses and payroll of most departments (with Public Works a notable exception). As of last week, the general fund totaled about $14 million with added spending endorsed by the council and slight bumps in revenue. (The total excludes an additional $2.2 million in outside grants.)
Though supportive of several add-ons, Councilman Rich Peterson, San Juan North, held back on endorsing others without a commitment from his colleagues in pursuing a so-called “levy-lid lift.” As a result of I-747, a statewide initiative approved in 2002, property tax levies can increase no more than 1 percent from year to year without voter approval. Peterson said that spending cuts are necessary unless a new and substantial source of revenue can be found.
“By adding anything back without that commitment seems to me like we’re essentially committing financial suicide,” he said.
Earlier, the council also agreed to forego eliminating two positions in the Community Development and Planning Department. The department expects to generate roughly $140,000 more in permit fees next year by retaining a senior planner and permit coordinator, which, if achieved, would cancel out the cost of those positions.
