Josephine County Leaders Work Through Funding Crisis

Josephine county leaders work through what one commissioner calls a "funding crisis" as they decide which services to fund and which to cut in the coming year. The county faces a shrinking budget, due in part to lost timber revenue.

The Board of Commissioners and the budget committee had the daunting task of balancing the county budget with about $17-million less than they had to work with a year ago. Josephine county commissioners had to decide which basic services to cut and which to support. Commissioners say it's a task they don't take lightly.

"It's probably one of the most difficult things I've done in my life. You know what it means for your economy. You know what it means for your quality of life. But you only have so much money and you have to make some difficult decisions," says Commissioner Dave Toler.

The commissioners unanimously approved a budget that will cut six positions from the Sheriff's Office. Further cuts to law enforcement were avoided by draining the county's $9-million dollar reserve fund.

For nearly an hour Wednesday morning, citizen after citizen addressed the board. Many expressed frustration with the commissioners for not setting aside money to re-open the library.

For now, the library doors will remain locked. All three commissioners did express support for the library but say their decision not to fund it with the 2008-2009 budget was a matter of priorities.

"When a medical facility reaches this type of crisis level they have to triage. The board of commissioners is no different. We've had to triage the amount of services that we can continue to provide," says Commissioner Jim Raffenburg.

Commissioners say they feel the budget will be sufficient for the coming year. It's the long term forecast that troubles them.

"Because we did prior planning it's okay for this next year which begins July 1st. But when we start going through our budgeting process next January for the '09 and 2010 year that's when it's gonna get real difficult and real tough unless we got some federal money," says Commissioner Dwight Ellis.

The loss of federal timber payments accounts for more than $12-million of the county's shrinking budget. While other Oregon counties lost more money, none had a greater percentage lost from their general funds.

The commissioners are considering a property tax levy to provide long-term funding for law enforcement. Any property tax increase would have to be approved by voters.