Meeting Watch: County Board (17 Sept 2008)

Though they speed-talked through their regular board meeting, before that Washtenaw County commissioners had spent more than two hours in session as the Ways & Means Committee, focusing mainly on budget challenges, including proposed job cuts to help reduce a projected $5 million shortfall.

First, a brief bit of government-wonk background: The county is on a two-year budget cycle, for an annual operating budget of roughly $107 million. In November 2007, the board adopted the 2008-09 budget – it’s standard practice that for the second year of the cycle (in this case, 2009), the administration would report back a “reaffirmed” budget with slight modifications based on economic conditions.

But the economy has not been particularly kind to projections made in 2007, and budget revisions will be significant, County Administrator Bob Guenzel told the board.

“I’ve been through a lot of these cycles and I’ve never seen one this bad,” he said, nor one that has the potential for lasting so long.

In April, the county had estimated a $13 million shortfall for 2009, and identified $10 million in cuts. Now, that shortfall will likely be closer to $15 million, and the county needs to find $5 million through additional revenue or cuts. Guenzel said a dramatic drop in property tax revenues – which account for about 70 percent of the general fund – was a major reason why previous estimates were off. In the revised 2009 budget, the county estimates that property tax revenues will drop 1.5 percent.

Guenzel spent considerable time Wednesday walking the board through his proposals, then answering questions. Guenzel said he’d like the board to consider these recommendations at their Oct. 1 meeting, and vote to implement them on Oct. 15. Here are the major recommendations:

• Eliminating 37 positions, including 15 jobs that are already vacant. Of those proposed cuts, 24 would result from reorganizing the county’s support services, for $2.4 million in personnel savings next year. Other positions will be cut or left vacant in information technology, facilities maintenance, the prosecutor’s office, district court and several other areas. Guenzel said the cuts were strategic, rather than across all departments, and aimed at areas that won’t affect services to residents.
• The county will save $500,000 by transferring its Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled to the Ann Arbor District Library. The board approved that move on Wednesday, and the five jobs associated with it will be cut.
• Working with a new sheriff after the November election, Guenzel hopes to trim $500,000 from that department by “streamlining” administration.
• On the revenue side, the county could generate $315,000 by using a law enacted at the turn of the last century. It lets the county levy a small tax – 1/50th of a mill, or about $2.50 for a home valued at $250,000 – without getting voter approval, with the funds to be used only for services to indigent veterans. Those funds would free up money the county currently spends to provide such services. If the board OKs this move in October, it would appear on December tax bills.

Even if the board approves these and other changes, they must immediately deal with the 2010-11 budget, which also looks grim. Three percent raises for union workers in both 2010 and 2011 will drive projected shortfalls of $6 million and $11 million, respectively.

Several commissioners spoke of the human cost associated with the proposed job cuts, both for the staff whose jobs are eliminated and for the extra work absorbed by those who remain. Rolland Sizemore Jr., a commissioner from Ypsilanti Township, was concerned that too many of the cuts came from employees “further down the food chain,” rather than in management positions.

Nancy Heine echoed that sentiment during the public comment session. As president of one of the labor unions representing county employees, she questioned why so many union jobs were being cut. “Where is the shared sacrifice?” she said. “We have not seen it.”

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Jeff Irwin, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Karen Lovejoy Roe, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith

Absent: Mandy Grewal, Leah Gunn, Jessica Ping

Next meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 6:45 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets at 6:30 p.m. Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting.