Yellow Pages
Skagit County departments have until Wednesday to find ways to trim their general fund budgets by 5 percent.
County Administrator Tim Holloran sent out the request early Monday, instructing the departments to cut expenses or find new revenue streams to ease the burden on the county’s general fund. In the internal memo, he said the budget requests county commissioners examined last week for 2010 showed a deficit of $3.2 million, an increase over the $2.5 million previously projected.
The cuts will likely include layoffs that could begin before 2010.
“That’s the position we’re in right now,” Holloran said. “There may be some that will be immediate and some that won’t happen until the first of the year.”
County Budget and Finance Director Trisha Logue said staff would discuss any potential layoffs with the commissioners in an executive session this week. She said staff will meet with the commissioners individually to discuss any non-personnel cuts or changes to department budgets. Any meeting with two or more commissioners would require that it be open to the public.
Commissioners are preparing to release a preliminary 2010 budget Nov. 16.
Holloran said in a Monday morning briefing with the commissioners the county may need to cut some services entirely rather than make smaller cuts across all the departments.
“I think we have to look at both strategies,” Holloran told the Skagit Valley Herald. “We have to look at every 5 percent as well as any efficiencies or services we can’t afford to offer anymore.”
Commissioner Ken Dahlstedt said that he wasn’t prepared to make any service cuts until he examined the cuts proposed by departments. But he said cutting services was not off the table.
* Aaron Burkhalter can be reached at 360-416-2141 or aburkhalter@skagitpub lishing.com.
