PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County is eliminating the equivalent of about 13.33 positions — and considering a budget that cuts 3.5 percent from the 2008 general fund spending — to help balance a 2009 budget racked by an economic downturn that has drained sales, real estate and property taxes, the county administrator said.
Philip Morley, who walked into harsh budget realities when he started as county administrator on Oct. 16, will take a proposed budget document before the county commissioners today that calls for $561,194 less in general fund expenditures for 2009.
At 10 a.m., the commissioners will conduct a public hearing on the budget proposal in the larger Superior Court courtroom on the third floor of the county courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
After the hearing, commissioners will consider the proposed budget and public comments and may request budget modifications.
Adoption of the final budget is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 15.
Actual layoffs were limited to the Department of Community Development, where six positions were recently eliminated because of faltering fee revenue caused by plummeting building permits.
That department’s remaining staffers were cut to 36-hour work weeks, including Al Scalf, community development director, who also took a 10 percent pay cut.
The 4.3 percent staff reduction leaves the county with 297.6 full-time-equivalent positions.
Hard choices
The next budget year, “was not one I was anticipating or looking forward to,” Morley said. “And we have had to make some very hard choices forced on us, but we simply need to match revenues and expenditures.”
The latest budget news follows the commissioners declaring a budget emergency, authorizing a hiring freeze and voting unanimously to use “banked capacity” for the general fund — a slight tax increase — leaving unused banked capacity for the road fund and conservation futures tax levy. That infused $473,171 in additional revenue into county coffers.
Beginning in 1986, the Legislature allowed local governments to levy less than the maximum increase in property taxes allowed under law without losing the ability to levy higher taxes later, if necessary.
Prior to that, taxing districts that took less than the maximum, at that point 6 percent annually, permanently lost some of their levying capacity. Therefore, districts tended to use it or lose it.
The banked capacity concept allows districts to be more fiscally conservative without being penalized.
Morley said that the 2009 banked capacity will amount to an additional tax of about $25.02 a year for the average home.
Every year that the commissioners have chosen not to take banked capacity has meant a $700,000 annual taxpayer savings, he said.
Banked capacity can be “recreated” once the economy recovers, he added, saying he would be in the position next year to take “more systemic cuts” that do not involve layoffs.
Adding to budget woes is prior legislation that cuts motor vehicle excise tax and sets a 1 percent limit on year-to-year growth in property tax, Morley said.
The county administrator reported a county real estate excise tax decline of about 50 percent since 2006 — from $1.4 million to $650,000 — and a 25 percent decrease in building and development review fees, about $300,000.
“Everybody is watching the economy to see what happens,” Morley said.
County adjustments
Morley praised adjustments offered by county elected and department directors, saying there is an “understanding that we’re in this thing together and we need to solve it.”
He noted “significant” changes in expenditures proposed by each county department:
•âÇThe Assessor’s Office agreed to postpone vehicle replacement for a year.
•âÇThe county Auditor’s Office agreed to reduce a quarter of a full-time equivalent position and cut printing costs by $25,000.
•âÇDistrict Court has reduced salaries and benefits by $25,000 by reclassifying department positions.
•âÇJuvenile Services cut a 0.5 full-time position probation counselor position, saving $35,000, which will be reviewed at mid-year.
•âÇThe Prosecutor’s Office cut one full-time office manager position, saving $52,000.
•âÇThe Sheriff’s Office cut a deputy position, saving $92,000, and reduced professional services by $70,000. The sheriff budgeted adequate overtime of $225,000 in salaries and benefits.
Other reductions amount to $229,000 for the Department of Community Development, $151,000 for Public Health, facilities reductions amounting to $55,000, Washington State University Cooperative Extension reductions of $24,000 and Parks and Recreation cuts of $4,350.
WSU Cooperative Extension reduced 1.5 positions and other professional services, and Public Health reduced 2.5 positions.
Facilities management eliminated its manager position, but JeffComm 911 added two full-time employees.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
