Layoffs and furloughs could be looming in Lewis County government as financial staffers and elected officials work to close a budget gap that has expanded to $5.8 million.

    Though the depth and severity of the potential employment reductions will not be decided until ongoing departmental discussions are completed in September, Monday’s news led commissioners to say layoffs are possible, if not likely.

    The county began 2009 with a $2.7 million deficit. Now, with newly projected revenue shortfalls of $3.1 million, the deficit is estimated to be approximately $5.8 million, according to Lewis County Fiscal Director Dawna Truman.

    The swollen budget gap is the result of a battered economy, Truman said. Among the factors contributing to the deficit between revenue and expenditures is an approximately $800,000 shortfall in sales tax, $500,000 in lost interest revenue, $700,000 in forest board yields and another $700,000 shortfall at the Lewis County Jail, Truman said.

    The Lewis County Commission, which on Monday approved a routine mid-year amendment to the budget, will be sorting through the reduction recommendations of each department in the coming weeks. Those recommendations were submitted to the budget office Friday. Another mid-year amendment will be put before the commission in September, which is when decisions on personnel cuts for the 2010 budget cycle will likely be cemented.

    Though all three commissioners were reluctant to say layoffs and furloughs were inevitable, they expressed doubt that savings could be found elsewhere after an initial round of cuts at the end of 2008 took the county workforce from 635 to 595.

    When asked if the deficit could be closed without personnel disruptions, commissioner chairman Lee Grose was not optimistic.

    “I’m thinking not,” Grose said. “It’s going to hit us. The alternative is to not do anything and have to lay off 100 people next year. … We’ve kind of seen it coming in a way, except we’ve used reserves in the past year.”

    The June estimated general fund reserve was $12 million, according to Truman. With the latest numbers from all of the county’s departments and offices, the year-end reserves could fall as low as $7 to 8 million. Heavily reliant on property taxes, which only come twice a year, the county needs a minimum of $5 million to meet cash flow needs, Truman said.

    Equally hesitant to pronounce job cuts as a forgone conclusion, commissioner Ron Averill said closing the gap would be difficult to do without a reduction in personnel costs, which account for approximately 70 percent of the total operating budget.

    Equally hard, he said, would be making cuts to Lewis County Health and Social Services and the Community Development Department, which each absorbed the brunt of the cuts in 2008.

    Instead, the county might be looking to shore up its budget through cuts to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office, Averill said. As in most government budgets, public safety absorbs more than 70 percent of the budget.

    Commissioner Bill Schulte said it is important to keep the $5 million buffer available in the reserves so Lewis County does not operate in the red as several counties across the state have begun to do. He said commissioners are in the process of determining if furloughs would be allowed, and to what degree, for both union and non-union workers.

    “We’re scrambling and trying to find every way we can without layoffs,” Schulte said.

    The original total county budget for 2009 was $114.7 million, though that includes state and federal funds that are not transferable to other expenses. The operating budget is currently $37.6 million.

    Truman, the fiscal director, said  the 2008 budget was $2.5 million more than the current one, which combined with rising deficits highlights the tumultuous economic times.

    She planned to meet with commissioners today to discuss the newly announced deficit and the recommendations from various departments on how to close it. She said the county would prefer to do furloughs if personnel disruptions are needed so trained employees can stay on the payroll.

    While grim, she said the budget can be reined in.

    “The county is not going bankrupt,” she said.

    Eric Schwartz: (360) 807-8245