By MaryHelen Swanson
There’s a cartoon where young foxes grab each other by the tail and go round and round until there’s nothing but a blur of color and you no longer can tell what it is that is running around in a circle.

You might say that’s how the effects of budgeting are these days.

County Administrator John Moosey’s comment Tuesday morning was “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

He was responding to questions about the 2010 county budget which received commissioner approval at last week’s board meeting and the difficult financial situation that is prevalent in our communities and homes these days.

There is a zero increase in the levy this year.

What the board is doing by setting the levy with a zero increase, Moosey said Tuesday, is telling the public they’re concerned about the citizens’ personal financial issues and that they (commissioners) don’t want to add to their (citizens) woes.

But, it’s not going to be as easy as simply maintaining the 2009 levels.

In fact, it means there will be cuts.

Moosey noted at the county board meeting last week that having the 2010 levy come in with a zero increase meant having $2.8 million in cutbacks from the original budget proposals.

Almost all areas of the budget have been trimmed or hit, he said.

The county is anticipating $650,000 in LGA (local government aid) but it could be zero, Moosey said. That’s an unknown at this time.

And there will be a limited hiring freeze, because the county already doesn’t have the staff is used to have, he said.

One of the cutbacks being considered is five furlough days during the year. Five days of furlough will save the county just under $400,000.

But because the county has already been prudent about hiring, many departments are left with reduced staffs.

Moosey said if there are two people in a position, to have one on furlough only means that much more work for the one left in the office that day.

So, he said, the best thing to do would be to have the entire county take the five days off together. But, it is not up to the commissioners nor the administrator to shut down the government center.

Currently negotiations are under way with seven union groups, Moosey explained, where days off could be negotiated. That could be, for instance, the day after Thanksgiving, or before or after the Fourth of July.

These days off can be in the contract, he said.

But, five days off is equivalent to a 2 percent pay cut across the board. And the county is asking the employees to pick up more health insurance costs and advocating for freezes in step and COLA (cost of living) pay.

If the cuts aren’t found through negotiations, Moosey went on, then what’s left is lay offs.

And laying people off creates county citizens who no longer are able to make purchases and spend money at local businesses.

Regardless, the zero increase still involves cuts to many county departments and most likely will be seen in reduced services.

As noted last week, the partners, such as animal control, historical society, extension service, will be receiving 10 percent less.

Home delivered meals (in the Chisago Lakes area) will receive less as well as Meals on Wheels through the senior center.

There will be no money for replacement of Sheriff’s vehicles.

When employees leave a department, they will hold off replacing that position (as the county already has been doing).

Moosey also noted last week that there has been full cooperation and understanding on the part of the department heads.

The board’s decision
When the commissioners addressed the budget last week, 5th Dist. Commissioner Mike Robinson objected to approval that day saying he had only seen the final budget the day before.

He lamented that he was not included in the budget process as only two commissioners sat on the budget committee this year and early meetings of that group, he said, were not open to all commissioners.
Dist. 3 Commissioner George McMahon, who did sit on the budget committee,  said the board knew there would be some tough decisions when it asked Moosey to come up with a budget at the 2009 level.

He said no one is happy, but the departments said they could do this.

Rick Green, commissioner from Dist. 2, who was also a member of the budget committee, disagreed with Robinson saying the budget meetings were open.

This was echoed by board chairman Dist. 4 Commissioner Ben Montzka. Montzka also affirmed that the reductions will have effects on the partners and in the communities.

Montzka assured his peers that meal services at the senior center will be provided. More important, he believed, was keeping the levy down so people could stay in their homes.

Yes, there’ll be changes, he said, but he believed there are a number of options, including getting more LGA than the county is planning for.

Robinson had objected to the vote because he wanted answers as to what the cuts would mean to the NB senior center and what the $25,000 cut to the East Central Regional Library would mean to the Rush City library.

Robinson said all the budget meetings were not posted so that all five could attend.

Dist. 1 Commissioner Lora Walker said she read recently that one quarter of mortgages are in turmoil.

To Moosey, she said the county needs to be prepared if the state is getting away from local funding. She asked him if he sees that coming.

Moosey had responded that the county is cutting every dime like never before.

He spoke of the zero step and cost of living increases and asking the employees to pay more health insurance.

And to her question about whether the board is following suit, Moosey told her they are seeing the same decrease as the employees.

To Robinson’s concern about the effect on the reduction to the ECRL on Rush City’s library, Walker said it would depend on what the ECRL board chooses to do.

McMahon said the ECRL would have to resubmit its budget because other counties, like Chisago, are reducing their  allocations also.

He also said it was important to adopt the budget that day because of all the time people had put into it and because the employees want to know where they stand.

Montzka said he didn’t want to support the library cut and was concerned about the sheriff’s vehicles, but said, “we do need to start some place.”

 Finally, the board adopted the budget on a 4-1 vote, with Robinson opposed.

The 2010 levy will be adopted tonight after the Truth in Taxation hearing at 6:30 p.m. The regular county board meeting will follow the public tax hearing.

Board Briefs

Chisago County Public Health Director Jill Briggs informed the commissioners last week that in the first wave of school vaccinations for H1N1, 407  of the youngest received the vaccination. The goal by Christmas is to offer it to all children in the Rush City, North Branch and Chisago Lakes schools and by January, have it available to everyone. No child is vaccinated in the schools without parent permission.

More good news on your tax statement, the waste management fee will remain $10 for 2010. The funds garnered with this fee are used for waste education programs. The commissioners also approved recycling contracts with five local haulers, with a cap of $50,000 per hauler. The money used to help haulers with the recycling efforts is from state SCORE funds.

Chisago County Highway Engineer Joe Triplett brought a list for the commissioners to look over. It included 50 paved roads in the county that need work. The goal will be to decide which projects will be done using $3.5 million in federal ATP money which the county will have for use in 2014. The commissioners also approved proceeding with the signal project at Co. Rd. 22 on Hwy. 61 in Wyoming.

The board approved advertising for a seat on the Extension Committee from Dist. 4 and at large; and approved advertising for two at large positions on the Water Plan Policy Team.

The commissioners approved 5-0 to adopt the ARMER radio system which sends a message to the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board that the county is moving ahead with the mandated radio upgrade. This action was needed to be eligible for a $1.2 million grant from the MESB. The board was also approached for a quick decision on which option in radio upgrade they would choose in order to qualify for two grants with Jan. 15 submission deadlines. The board was not ready to make any further decisions about the system and chose only to support the move to the ARMER system.

At the request of Commissioner Lora Walker, the board moved to develop an I-35 work group the purpose of which is to get freeway safety devices (guardrails) along the freeway from Forest Lake to Pine County line.

 

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