Maybe a million was a bit steep...

One week after hearing the Whitman County’s 2011 budget deficit had swollen from $660,000 to $1 million, county leaders learned Monday no solid figure actually exists.

In December, the county passed a $12.6 million budget that was $660,000 in the red.

Commissioner Greg Partch last week said figures from the county’s newly-implemented New World accounting software showed the deficit had grown to as much as $1 million.

Gary Petrovich, administrative director in the commissioners’ office, told a gathering of county officials Monday the county has no way to know its actual deficit until next month.

“We won’t have hard, fixed numbers until the second week of May,” said Petrovich.

Officials were called in by Partch to discuss the county’s finances.

Under this year’s county budget plan, half of the $660,000 deficit was to be covered out of 2.6 percent cuts from each department. The remaining $330,000 was planned to be covered out of cash reserves.

News of the $1 million deficit caused some department heads concern they may have to make deeper cuts.

“Most all of the expenses basically come from salaries,” said Coroner Pete Martin. “A lot of departments are pretty cranked down as is. We all know that the solution may be painful.”

How painful depends on the actual deficit number.

“It’s unsettling to have some idea what our deficit is and then turn around a couple months later,” said District Court Administrator Marlynn Markley. “I’m getting to the point where I don’t trust any of the figures.”

Partch said his $1 million figure came from preliminary data cranked out of the New World system.

Petrovich said accounting staff will need to verify April’s figures once the month’s books are closed and the county has a better idea of first-half property tax collections.

Those verified figures will then be checked against data entered into the “Old World” system in the first three months of the year.

“New World handles things very differently,” he said, noting the vast differences in entering information into the “Old World” and the New World systems.

“It’s not like you’re going from A to A and B to B.”

Once the deficit is finally projected, commissioners plan to meet with department leaders to target cuts and see how much reserve cash they must use to balance the budget.

“But we need good information,” said Commissioner Michael Largent.