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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Contact:
Don Krupp, Chief Administrative Officer, 360-786-5440
Thurston
County Commissioners Adopt 2003 Budget
OLYMPIA – Thurston County Commissioners have adopted a “hold the
line” budget for next year that contains some cuts in personnel and
programs. The budget, which
sustains nearly all present level services, was approved on a split
vote Monday. The overall budget
is set at $305M and includes a general fund budget of $57.7M. General fund
spending was cut back by $3.6M. That
resulted in elimination of 21 employee positions including 5 in the
Sheriff’s Office. Most of the
positions were already vacant due to a hiring freeze.
In addition several programs, including marine patrol and DARE, were
eliminated.
Writing the budget has been difficult given the loss of millions of
dollars in revenue due to the passage of initiatives in recent years.
The situation will continue to worsen in coming years due to voter
approval of Initiative 747 which limits property tax growth to one-percent a
year, which will not keep up with inflation.
The county can no longer rely on reserves, which had been used in
recent years to balance the budget.
Commissioners were given a bit of flexibility late in the budget
process, when voters approved a funding package for the 9-1-1 Emergency
Dispatch Center. That freed up
about $675,000 that was used to reduce the impact on criminal justice related
funding. It allows the county,
temporarily at least, to sustain nearly current level services in that
category.
Chief Administrative Officer Don Krupp says creating the spending plan
for next year has been a challenge for everyone. "The
Board of County Commissioners and other elected county officials have worked
hard together over the past year to develop the most tolerable solution to
balancing the 2003 budget. The
job will get even harder as we work towards a budget for 2004 and
beyond."
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