Pullman health office buy widens budget gap

Whitman County’s 2010 budget deficit swelled to $338,792 after commissioners approved the year’s first budget amendment Monday.

Monday’s adjustment added $180,354 to the gap between revenue and spending.

“We’ve got the reserves to withstand this,” said Commissioner Greg Partch. “But we’re going to have to watch it closely.”

“We’re going to have to go back and take another look. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Commissioner Pat O’Neill.

Commissioners are now considering using a portion of those reserves to cover the primary increase in this budget amendment, a $111,193 line item to purchase the health department’s office condominium suite in Pullman.

The amendment for the health department created the budget authority to purchase the building.

Commissioners had initially planned to borrow money to purchase the building from the county’s solid waste fund and pay it back over time with an interest charge.

Using reserve funds for a single payment will eliminate interest expenses.

“If we buy the building with that reserve, it’s done,” said Commissioner Michael Largent.

The majority of the remaining increase in the budget amendment came from increased premiums for state labor and industry insurance on county employees.

Commissioners also considered building the reserve account by $23,900.

On a 2-1 vote late last year, commissioners stopped a planned increase for 2010 in the county’s rainy-day fund which can only be used by an official decree.

The fund was set to put aside 7.5 percent of the prior year’s budget. For 2009, that amounted to $1,119,029.

The restricted account was scheduled to ramp up by 1.5 percent each year until 2014.

Facing dwindling revenues, though, commissioners O’Neill and Partch in November voted to put off this year’s scheduled 1.5 percent increase. Largent cast a dissenting vote.

However, when spending cuts aimed at countering the 2009 budget deficit lowered the year’s overall budget, the freeze resulted in a $23,900 lowering of the amount going into the rainy day fund to put it at $1,095,129.

“I don’t think we ever intended it to have negative growth,” Commissioner Partch said of the freeze Monday. “I thought we anticipated it would stay at the same level.”

“There was no anticipation at all,” said Largent.

Commissioners Monday discussed whether to bring back the increase or to use the $23,900 to plug the 2010 budget gap.

“Twenty-three thousand is not going to cure the problem,” said Partch.

Largent suggested that could be used to cover a portion of the sheriff’s budget to stave off the potential loss of a deputy.

Sheriff Brett Myers said during the 2010 budget process he may be forced to lay off a deputy because of an additional $40,000 reduction decreed to his department by commissioners.