Process shifts to county council

The 2017 Jay County budget process in now left up to Jay County Council.
Jay County Budget Committee gave approval Wednesday for auditor Anna Culy to implement its recommendations into the budget that council will review and give its initial read to later this month.
Currently, the county’s general fund budget is estimated at $7.4 million for next year, without the recommendations included.
“The best you can do is probably ($7.5) million,” said financial consultant Greg Guerrettaz, noting that $7.4 million figure is close to what he originally projected.
“What we are trying to do is get to a budget that is barebones and it’s probably not as barebones as it needs to be, but you know. To get it an even barer bone, we’d have to take more meat out of it and I’m not sure there is much, OK,” Guerrettaz told committee members Faron Parr, Doug Inman, Jeanne Houchins, Bob Vance, Dan Watson and Culy on Wednesday.
Highlighting the attempt to structure a “barebones” budget, recommendations include reducing part-time elected official pay, part-time employment, reviewing employee benefits and setting target minimum balances for major county funds.
“The path we are molding and shaping and trying to go down, at this point in time, there isn’t a way to go on an off ramp and create, you know, I can’t create money that you don’t have at this point in time,” Guerrettaz said.
While money can’t be created, the committee discussed throughout its work the possibility of freeing up other county funds that can suck up monies currently allocated in the general fund.
One of those is the Cumulative Capital Development fund, which Jay County Commissioners recently amended to include “other general capital expenditures as determined by the Jay County Commissioners.”
Using the fund for department capital outlays can help streamline efficiency and potentially save costs, Guerrettaz said.
“If there is a way out of this tunnel that’s come in on us, this cave, we’ve got to try everything we can,” he said. “That’s why we are trying to set this up in this way. Is there a piece of technology or piece of equipment, if we bought a new dump truck, would we have less people needed at the highway department putting down asphalt?”
Culy issued concern that employees could be cut as a possibility, but Guerrettaz responded by saying the 2017 budget doesn’t show any indication of nixing current employees.
Instead, the committee’s recommendations call for a salary freeze and “hiring chill.”
“Look, if you have to downsize your work force at some point in time, from 100 to 98, I guess my point is, number one, if we do it (gradually) when people leave and second of all, with technology that doesn’t overburden the new people or the people preexisting, that’s the better way,” Guerrettaz said.
The “hiring chill” would require department heads go before county council to seek their approval for replacement of positions.
Houchins, a member of council, suggested it could help avoid an outright reduction or slash of current county employees.
“If we are on the ball and know what’s going on with their budget, we will know if the department or the county in general can afford to replace that person,” she said, also noting that if the budget woes persist for another four or five years then a reduction might be needed.
However, Guerrettaz suggested cuts could come earlier if the woes aren’t corrected.
“2018 will be the employee cutting budget probably if we don’t find these others things. That’s what I am trying to get you to,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the committee, absent Ted Champ, recommended a $470,000 levy for Jay Emergency Medical Services.
That is a $20,000 increase from the recommendation set by the committee at its last meeting. Currently, budget forms have the levy at $432,000.
Guerrettaz indicated the increase to JEMS puts more pressure on the general fund.
“The increase from ($432,000), the general fund gets less money as a result of it. How hard do we want to squeeze JEMS?” he said.
JEMS has been an ongoing discussion point during the committee’s work because of its financial struggles. It was $146,817 in the red in 2015 and has been helped via the rainy day fund ($300,000 in 2010, $400,000 in 2014 and $44,098 annually for a paramedic salary and benefits since February 2014).
Council will hold department budget reviews 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday as the next steps in the 2017 budget process. It will hold a public hearing and first reading of next year’s budget 6 p.m. Sept. 21.