State passing financial pain to the counties

LORRINE THOMPSON THE OLYMPIAN

THURSTON COUNTY -- A dim budget outlook is getting darker by the week for Thurston and other counties as state legislators search for ways to cut or shift costs.

Proposed versions of the state budget, as well as several proposed bills, would cut millions of dollars from county budgets. They would also shift costs for some responsibilities to counties.

One bill, for instance, would shift half the cost of committing violent sex offenders to counties.

Thurston County officials started 2002 knowing they needed to cut about $2.5 million. Now that figure is $4.4 million and climbing.

"The effect on Thurston County of the state budget is, it's going to make things substantially worse than they were," said county budget director John Bartz.

Cuts ahead

Bartz presented the 2003 budget outlook to county commissioners Monday.

Bartz and other county officials said county residents must understand as soon as possible the "dire" budget situation and the need for quick, significant cuts.

"The Thurston County general fund is facing huge cuts that should be accomplished as soon as possible, and no later than 2003," Bartz told commissioners.

The county's general fund budget -- the core budget that pays for county services -- is about $52 million. The county's overall budget is just over $300 million.

Commissioners are reviewing services provided by each county department, and are having directors develop priority lists of services to keep.

"The public needs to understand that they won't be getting the same level of services. They need to get used to that," Commissioner Cathy Wolfe said.

The county's budget outlook started shrinking with the passage of two recent voter-approved initiatives -- a reduction in motor vehicle excise tax, and a limit of 1 percent on property tax increases.

Because counties rely much more on property taxes than do the state or cities, "County government is going to be much more uniquely hammered by the new revenue facts of life," Bartz said.

The county also lost revenue when the county jail became so full that no prisoners could be accepted from other jurisdictions, such as local cities.

That cost the county about $1 million per year, Bartz said.

State budget hits

Now state budget woes are spilling over onto Thurston and other counties:

- Both versions of the state budget propose cutting a payment to counties in which the state reimbursed counties for a portion of the motor vehicle excise taxes lost -- called "695 backfill" money.

For Thurston, that means a loss of about $1.2 million in criminal justice money and $600,000 in public health money.

- One bill proposes cutting money to counties for juvenile justice programs -- called "Becca" money, because it comes from a law named for a juvenile runaway who was murdered.

That would cost Thurston County about $250,000 a year, while the programs would still be mandated by law.

- Another bill suggests having motor vehicles licensed every two years rather than every year. At the same time, the bill would cut the amount given to counties for the licensing.

That would cost Thurston County nearly $1 million per year.

- Another bill proposes that counties fund half of the cost to civilly commit violent sex predators. That cost is now paid by the state Department of Corrections.

"We're looking at a really busy collection of things that affect county budgets," Bartz said.

State legislators "are disregarding our problems in favor of their problems," he said.

Unfair burden?

The proposed cuts and cost shifts are alarming counties across the state, said Maureen Morris, deputy director of urban counties for the Washington State Association of Counties.

"Things are not looking good," she said.

Counties are already being hurt by the same types of revenue losses as the state, and now legislators are compounding that, she said.

"The legislators are facing a very difficult situation. We understand that," Morris said.

"But we don't feel that our share of the pain has been fair."

Bartz said county commissioners will go through a grueling budget process in the next several months, and they hope to decide on cuts by the end of the year, when the 2003 budget is adopted.

Commissioner Diane Oberquell pointed to a comment made by a state official that is also true of counties:

When the economy is bad, people want fewer services from the private sector and more services from the government.

"We have to determine which cuts will affect the least number of people," Oberquell said.

Lorrine Thompson covers Thurston County and health for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5431 or lcthomps@olympia.gannett.com.

Thurston County looking at budget gap of $4.4 million

Budget information

Information on Thurston County's 2002 budget and the budget process is available at www.co.thurston.wa.us. A "2002 Budget" report has been added to other special reports at the top of the county's opening Web page.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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