State cutbacks, lower sales tax revenues and declining interest rates on bank accounts have whittled away much of the funding Saline County is used to having for county offices and departments. But just how bad is the situation?
“This is the worst since I’ve been here in 10 years,” said Southern District Commissioner Mike Dillon.
Anticipating a decline in funds, the commission trimm-ed the county budget earlier this year. One budget-trimming ac-tion was placing a hiring freeze on county offices, meaning that no new positions can be created although vacant positions can be filled. But a little more than halfway through 2003, the county has even less money than it bargained for.
The county is about $12,000 behind in sales tax revenues this year compared to last year, which was over $40,000 behind 2001. And the same low interest rates that are good for refinancing a home mean savings and checking accounts aren’t growing like they used to.
“We have under 1 percent (interest earned annually) on (the county’s) checking account and it used to be around 5 percent,” said County Treasurer Sam Jones. He said the county used to open certificates of deposit for 90 days and six months offering returns of 6 or 7 percent. “Now, (for) 90 days they won’t even give us a bid,” he said. “And with sales tax being down, we won’t know what we’ll have (for funds) six months down the road.”
Further complicating the fiscal outlook for years ahead, the county is fighting the possibility that lettered roads, which had been handed over to the state decades ago, may be returned to counties for upkeep. “You know the state is not going to give you enough moneyto maintain them,” said Northern District Com-missioner Richard Pem-berton. “I think the counties ought to fight this. It’s just another way the state of Missouri dumps their responsibilities on the counties.”
Pemberton added most counties, including Saline, don’t have the resources to maintain all paved roads in addition to all the miles of gravel roadways.
Health office cuts
One of the offices hit hardest this year was the Saline County Health Office.
“The money amount they took away from us, which we had for years and years, was $48,300,” said Gayle Thomas, health office administrator.
However, the state wants the county to provide another year of free services to the 322 women the comprehensive family planning contract covered. “That’s the bind we’re in,” Thomas added.
Another health office budget cut, minor in comparison, is the 6.6 percent, or nearly $4,000, trimmed off the “core functions” contract. And Thomas said the Department of Health and Senior Services is no longer letting county health offices know what funding is cut before announcing it through the media.
To compensate for the shortfall, the family nurse practitioner for the health office is going to part-time status and a licensed practical nurse will remain part-time rather than being available for full-time employment.
To help cover costs, new patients at the health office are paying a minimal fee for services that were previously free, such as $2.50 for a glucose test, $5 for birth control pills and $5 for a tuberculosis test. Beyond that, the health office is exploring the possibility of partnering with another county health office so that one will provide staff and the other will buy equipment. The partnership, if it would happen, might mean the office in Marshall would be open only two or three days a week. “We’re not there yet, but we may get there,” Thomas said.
She also questions the amount of money the state will have if each county has some unplanned pregnancies or sexually-transmitted disease outbreaks. “They are saving right now, but certainly not in the long run,” Thomas said.
Assessor’s office
Also hit hard by state budget constraints was the county assessor’s office. This year, the assessor’s budget required an extra $31,769 to pay for reassessment costs including sending more than 8,500 notices of new assessment levels. The number of parcels assessed in Saline County was a little more than 15,500.
“Reassessment is supposed to be paid for by the state, but they’ve never been able to do it,” Dillon said. He said the state covers some of the costs by reimbursing counties per parcel assessed. But the amount per parcel, which had been paid at $6.20 several years ago before it was cut to $5.50 last year, was cut again this year to $5 per parcel. The cut, which was announced July 3, is effective for the 2003 calendar year.
Circuit court clerk’s office
Unlike the big hits the health office and assessor’s office have suffered, a lack of state funds has affected the circuit court clerk’s office in several small ways.
“Of course, there’s a hiring freeze,” said Circuit Court Clerk Sharon Crawford. “If one of our personnel leaves for any reason, we can’t replace them.” She added the freeze will be effective for the 2004 fiscal year as well.
The state has also reduced its support for continuing education courses such as court clerk colleges, which update employees on new legislation. Crawford said the sessions are now offered once a year instead of twice annually, and reimbursement for motels and food for officials attending the training is no longer paid. The only reimbursement they receive is mileage to attend mandatory courses that are farther than 50 miles away.
“I don’t look for any more raises for a while until the money situation improves,” Crawford said of her office. This year, employees in judicial offices making less than $40,000 a year were given a $600 raise. Crawford said this would have been the fourth year without a raise for those workers.
The state is also reimbursing county court systems $20 per day for defendants’ board if they are convicted. The rate was lowered last year from a high of $22.50 in 1998.
“There’s usually an increase in the board bill, but this time, because of budget constraints, they’ve decreased,” Crawford said. To help recover the county’s costs, the circuit court clerk is now including stays at the Saline County Criminal Justice Center in regular court costs at a price of $35 a day.
Sheriff’s department
The Saline County Sheriff’s Department is trying to cut corners any way it can.
“The main thing is equipment,” said Sheriff Wally George. “We used to replace a lot of electronic equipment. Instead of replacing it, we try to patch it.”
The department is also saving money by purchasing used patrol cars. “I buy used Highway Patrol cars at state surplus (sales) because I can get them for half the money,” George said of the cost versus purchasing new vehicles.
He added his dispatchers are using notepads made of obsolete forms and the jail cooks are trying to buy in bulk and serve cheaper meals, such as biscuits and gravy for breakfast, more frequently.
Also new this year, George said he started operating the department’s funds like a checkbook, keeping a running tab on each fund and requiring department heads to run purchases past his desk first.
“Everybody received less money and there’s no raises for staff,” George said. “You just deal with it.”
University Outreach and Extension
Saline County University Outreach and Extension office employees are taking funding shortfalls into their own hands. The office has placed advertisements in the Marshall Democrat-News and on radio station KMMO in hopes of attracting money for its three-month campaign, seeking to raise $25,000 in support of Extension programming.
“The need for our educational services has never been greater,” said Cynthia Crawford, consumer and family economics specialist for the county. “What we really want to do is grow and expand programs. We’re not even able to maintain the agriculture program that we used to,” she said (without the supplemental fundraising drive).
Crawford said that over the last two years funding for the office was cut 40 percent at the county level, from $32,500 in 2000 to $20,000 in 2003.
“The County Commission is doing what they can, but it just isn’t enough,” Crawford said. She sees the private donations as a short-term fix, hoping private donations will support the existing programs for a few years. Crawford said after that the office will salvage what programs it can with the funding it is given.
County funding is used to pay for office supplies and an office manager, whose salary has been cut in the last two years. The county also provides space, the courthouse annex a block off the square, for the Extension office.
Another way Extension specialists bring in money to support their home county, she said, is to give presentations at events such as state and local conferences.
Another recent loss to the Saline County Extension office was the resignation of the county’s natural resource engineering specialist, Darin Starr. The university has no immediate plans to fill the position vacated two months ago. Crawford said specialists from neighboring counties have been helping out, “but it’s certainly not the same as having an ag specialist in this county.” And in an agricultural community like Saline County, she feels the position is essential and added that the Extension Council has placed filling the vacancy as a high priority.
Crawford mentioned other hits to the office such as an inability to replace and repair equipment and having to charge for soil tests and workshops when possible.
She said the office has struggled to maintain its same office hours and mentioned Youth Development Specialist Rachel Miles now covers four counties instead of two. “And that’s simply way too much,” Crawford said.
“She had three out of the four county fairs the same week.” Crawford said one of Miles’ three other counties is looking to hire someone to fill her position, and Miles may find some relief, but the outlook is uncertain.
Family services
To trim expenses, the state has cut the General Relief Grant for the Division of Family Service’s Saline County office and the rest of the state. The grant gave $70 a month to temporarily disabled individuals who are unable to work because of surgery or illness or are waiting to qualify for the Supplement Security Income (SSI) program, said Kathy Walker, county DFS manager. She said most of Saline County’s 38 recipients (based on figures from February 2003) use the grant to pay their insurance’s co-pay on medications.
“Now they don’t have the money to make their co-pays, so how are they going to get their medicine?” asked Barbara Eilers, an income maintenance supervisor.
“That cut is really going to affect our clients,” Walker added. “It’s sad, but that’s the way it is right now.”
She said her office has seen some cuts, but has been able to maintain its front-line employees and is dealing with its discomforts.
“It’s kind of hard to be three years since my staff or I have had a raise,” Walker said. “The budget hurts. We’ve had an income maintenance vacancy for months.”
But, for her department, there’s good news. “I got word today that I can fill the position,” she said last week. Although the state Social Services Department can only replace one out of every four employees who retire, she said that restriction is spread throughout the state.
Overall, said Walker, her office is fairing well under the latest state and county budget cuts. “We’re grateful that we have not been (as) severely impacted as other counties,” Walker said. “It’s like it is in the world right now. We have everything that we need here. We don’t have any luxuries here.”
But, she added, the uncertain future of the budget is hard on her office.
“We’ve had rumors of layoffs and withholds,” she said. “There’s so many rumors out there. ... If you listened to all of them, you would be very stressed out. And we’re hearing that next year will be worse than this one, but I don’t know that for a fact.”
The Division of Family Services is also dealing with a pending change in administrative structure. Effective Aug. 28, the division will split to become the Division of Children Services and the Division of Family Support. Instead of managing the entire office, Walker will focus on income maintenance, which includes deciding who qualifies for assistance, while Melody Arnold will oversee the Division of Children Services for Saline and Lafayette counties.
While Walker will focus on Saline County exclusively for now, she may be called to oversee more than one county in the future.
