PROPOSED 2011-12 CLATSOP COUNTY BUDGET MAINTAINS SERVICES

Clatsop County’s proposed budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year maintains almost all current programs and services.

The county Budget Committee will review the budget at a public meeting Tuesday, May 3 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Judge Guy Boyington Building, 857 Commercial St., Astoria.

The entire document can be viewed online at www.co.clatsop.or.us. Copies are also available to view at local libraries and the County Manager’s Office, 800 Exchange St., Suite 410.

The proposed budget totals $59,470,500, 10.9 percent more than the adopted 2010-11 budget. Most of the increase represents capital projects including the extension of Ensign Lane at the North Coast Business Park. The General Fund, which covers basic functions such as public safety, planning and tax-collection, is proposed to increase 3.4 percent, to $18,755,900.

Property tax revenue is projected to increase by 2.6 percent to $8,137,700, and funding from the Clatsop State Forest, which was depressed for the past two years, is expected to rebound modestly to about $2.6 million.

But the State of Oregon’s continuing budget woes may impact a number of local programs that rely on state funding.

“Preparation of the annual budget would not be possible without the dedication and commitment of the county department heads and staff,” County Manager Duane Cole said in the introductory budget message. “I am very appreciative of the professional approach to problem solving and the atmosphere of teamwork that was evident during this process.”

The budget reflects the closure of the Community Corrections Transition Center and lay-off of its staff. The residential facility, designed as an alternative sanction for local offenders, was closed April 1 on the recommendation of a consultant who reported that the number of clients served was declining and that the center’s operations were financially unsustainable.

Money saved from the center’s closure, approximately $700,000 a year in state revenue, will be redirected to other corrections programs and services.

The Ensign Road project, the largest capital outlay planned for the upcoming year, will be funded not from tax dollars but from the Industrial Development Revolving Fund, which holds the proceeds from the $8.6 million sale of commercial land at the business park.

The budget also includes the eighth payment for the 10-year bond secured in 2003 to pay the county’s unfunded Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) obligation. The 2011-12 Fiscal Year payment of $720,300 will come out of timber revenue ? the final two years’ payments in 2012-13 and 2013-14 will be covered by a reserve account that was established to cover the bond payments in the event other resources fell short.

The 10-year bond will save the county more than $7 million versus the standard 25-year PERS debt repayment schedule.

The proposed budget recommends a minor departure from a budget policy of the board of commissioners that prevents the use of county resources to replace or “back-fill” reductions in other funding sources. The document recommends a $7,500 transfer to the Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol program, which has suffered from a decline in state funding and would not be able to provide the same services without the funding.

Cole’s budget message says the county will be challenged to balance the need to protect county resources in the face of other likely state budget cuts, which could impact many local program, especially social services. The 2011-12 budget for contracted mental health services is $531,300, down from $573,900 in the current year, and proposed amount for drug and alcohol treatment, which totaled $200,900 this year, is $150,900.