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New funds give county enough to avoid cuts By DANI DODGE For the first time in more than five years, Jackson County budget committee members won't have to consider painful cuts in the county's budget. New federal timber replacement funds will boost the county's coffers by more than $6 million next year. "What a different budget session this will be from ones in the past," said Commissioner Sue Kupillas. "What I see is at last doing what we do well, and adequately funding what we are already doing. "Bigger budgets don't necessarily mean new programs." How it divvies up The Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, passed by Congress last year, will mean an additional $6.2 million for Jackson County in 2001-02. Of that, approximately $1.6 million goes to a road fund. That leaves approximately $4.6 million for the county's general fund. A budget recommendation presented Tuesday divvies up the funds among a number of different departments. Here are the highlights: $2 million for the sheriff's department. This will only maintain the current level of service. $1.3 million to take care of cost increases, such as inflation and salary increases, throughout the county to maintain services. $250,000 to provide three additional nurses to the county. This will increase Jackson County's public health spending rank from 30th out of 36 counties to 23rd. $81,000 to hire a new deputy district attorney to prosecute cases. $50,000 to increase the library's purchasing budget. This partially restores it to previous funding levels. $45,000 to restore a budget intern for the county administrator's office. $12,000 for the recreation enterprise fund to complete deferred maintenance projects and restore maintenance funding to previous levels. $1,300 for the county surveyor's program to add a second vehicle. The rest, $860,000, will be held in reserve for unknown costs including the county's union contract, which will be negotiated in June. Source: Jackson County Administrator Sue Slack On Tuesday, Jackson County Administrator Sue Slack presented the budget committee with her $217 million recommended budget for 2001/2002. The budget committee - made up of the three county commissioners and three members of the public - will review and discuss the budget April 24-27. Commissioners are scheduled to adopt the final version of the budget on May 30. The budget includes an increase of approximately 4 percent to maintain current services, covering cost increases such as salary steps, increased utility costs and inflation. Last year, Congress passed the Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act that provides money to counties and schools dependent on revenues from lagging timber sales on federal lands. Jackson County's share of that fund means an additional $6,241,349 for 2001-02. The county will have an extra $4.6 million in its general fund and the rest will go into a road fund. The difference in the roads program will be very small, Slack said. The road budget - funded normally by gas tax and timber revenues - has been relatively flat in recent years. The federal road money will allow a 4 percent increase in the $17.1 million budget. "The road program is working tightly to prioritize projects," Slack said. But the general fund increases will be more significant. Last year, the county maintained the sheriff's department budget - despite a $2 million deficit - with the use of some one-time funds. This year that $2 million will come out of the new federal funds. The proposed budget adds three nurses in the county's health and human services department - two for maternal and child health and one for general health. (The maternal and child health nurses were cut last year.) The recommended budget also adds an additional deputy district attorney, and restores funds cut last year to parks, the surveyors office and the county administrator's office. The budget committee also will be playing with an extra $5 million "rainy day fund" that was socked away in case the federal funding didn't materialize. Because the federal funding did come through, Slack is recommending the county use a good portion of that fund to reduce its $5.1 million retirement fund deficit. She also wants to use it to complete several projects, including a new $2.8 million combined community justice building and elections office in the old Safeway building on West Main Street. Slack said she also would like to keep a $200,000 contingency fund. "This marks the first time in several years the county will have a contingency," Slack said. Last year, the most controversial aspect of the budget was the recommendation of a 27 percent cut in funding for the county's historical societies. After a loud public outcry, the budget committee reduced the cut to 14 percent. The Southern Oregon Historical Society has filed a lawsuit against the county to restore its funding to levels approved with a 1948 continuing levy. The outcome of the lawsuit may not be known until next year. In the meantime, Slack is recommending the same amount of funding for the society that was provided last year. Southern Oregon Historical Society Executive Director Brad Linder said he was satisfied with that amount. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.