Could bring reduced hours, staff

Looming budget cuts could force Park County to reduce hours of operation at its libraries, landfills or even the courthouse, some commissioners warned this month. Some openly wondered if the county will have no choice but to reduce the number of employees.

“We’re going to be reducing services to the public, but the public doesn’t want to pay for any more services,” Commissioner Bucky Hall told the county’s other elected leaders and department heads at a March 1 meeting.

When employees retire or leave their jobs in the coming few years, “plan on not replacing them,” Hall said. “That’s where you’re going to find more money.”

By Commissioner Loren Grosskopf’s rough calculations, the county will have to slash spending by around $2.7 million — even if it plans no new major projects in the coming year.

Grosskopf said that after a couple years of cuts, “basically there’s nothing left” beyond employee salaries and benefits.

“That $2.7 million has to come from savings or from labor,” he said.

For the fiscal year that ends June 30, the general budget is roughly $26.6 million.

Commissioners indicated they’re ready and willing to blunt the effect of the cuts by tapping into their $16.5 million of savings. However, Commissioner Lee Livingston cautioned that the county can’t rely on its reserves for a long time.

“I think we’re at the point where we’re going to ask everyone to cut as much as you can,” Livingston said.

The commissioners acknowledged it was a tough order.

Park County Sheriff Scott Steward noted he’s made significant reductions to his budgets in recent years — including doing even bigger reductions than commissioners had requested. Making cuts this year “is even harder because we’ve kind of hit the bottom for awhile now,” Steward said of his department.

The sheriff suggested commissioners drop “non-essential government funding” first. He specifically mentioned the roughly $344,500 that the county spends on outside organizations that range from local economic development groups to animal shelters to a mental health care provider.

Commissioners implemented a kind of hiring freeze last month, requiring every department to get their permission before filling a vacant position.

The only department to not replace an employee so far has been the clerk’s office, which is trying to go with one fewer full-time worker.

Clerk Colleen Renner encouraged her fellow county employees and officials to even try saving money in this current budget year so it can be saved for next year.

“Let’s not just spend it because we have it,” Renner said.

Commission Chairman Tim French urged departments to scrutinize every expenditure, all the way down to magazine subscriptions.

He also suggested the county is in a fairly good position.

“We’ve updated a lot of things over the last five to eight years. A lot of things that had been allowed to fall into disrepair have been fixed,” French said. “We’ve upgraded considerably, so if we have to take a rest on projects, then I think we’re in good shape at this point.”

Park County Assessor Pat Meyer predicted that the crunch, which is the result of lower oil and gas prices and production, will probably last two years.

“(Oil and gas) is going to start to come back. It always has,” Meyer said. “I don’t see why we’re going to keep paying $1.75 (a gallon) for gas.”

However, Commissioner Joe Tilden predicted that new federal restrictions will limit local production. On top of that, “I don’t think we’re going to get any more money from the state,” Tilden said.

The Legislature approved $105 million in funding for the state’s local governments in their recent budget, but it’s one-time funding.

“It’s manna from God, and God’s fixing to dry up,” Tilden said.

Commissioners plan to revisit the budget picture in early April. If departments haven’t come up with enough cuts on their own, French said cuts as steep as 15 percent are possible.