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PASCO -- Franklin County's preliminary 2010 budget means a net loss of 15 jobs.
Two other employees would move from their current assignments into the information services department.
In August, county departments cut $788,000 by cutting unnecessary expenses and eliminating about four jobs, said County Administrator Fred Bowen.
The county had to prune $1.5 million more to reach the proposed 2010 budget of $22.3 million, he said, which is about $2.1 million less than was spent in 2008, or a 9.1 percent decrease.
Departments were asked to cut about 9 percent, Bowen said, and some cut less and some more.
The departments individually determined what exactly to cut, said Commissioner Rick Miller.
Zona Lenhart, Franklin County auditor, said her department took a fairly large hit, with cuts of about 15 percent.
She is losing 2.5 positions from her department, which includes accounting, recording, licensing and elections.
"It will be felt by the public, mostly in the recording and the licensing areas," she said.
The recording department will return to late 1950s levels, when the county had about 30,000 people, she said. Now, its population is about 73,000.
The prosecutor's office is returning to staffing levels of 1995, when the county had 40,000 people, said Prosecutor Steve Lowe.
Overall, his office will be down from 25 staff to 20 in 2010, he said. Two positions were cut in June, and three more will go in 2010.
The department won't be able to do all the work it currently does, Lowe said. For example, it may have to send more cases to the cities and not prosecute property crimes.
Those cuts will affect public safety, Lowe said.
The commissioners' department is losing 1.5 positions, Bowen said. He declined to identify the other departments losing positions.
However, cuts in the preliminary budget plan included four positions each from the sheriff's office and corrections, three prosecutor's office positions, 2.5 from the auditor, 1.5 from district court, one from the treasurer and planning and a partial position in the assessor's office.
Information services actually gained about $157,000 and added two positions. Calls to the department head were unanswered as of Friday.
Criminal justice represents more than 70 percent of the county's budget, Bowen said. That includes corrections, the sheriff's office, district and superior court and the prosecutor's office.
The county clerk's budget was cut 8 percent on top of cuts made in August, and an unfilled position will be left open.
County Clerk Michael Killian said the clerk's office was already understaffed. Although the office had 13 staff, it should have been at 16 with the population and workload.
At any given time, three to five clerks are in court, and the department has other tasks it is required to finish quickly, he said.
Although the staff will do its best, Killian asks that the public be patient when coming into the office. The office closure from noon to 1 p.m. will continue next year.
If the department takes any more cuts, Killian said staff will have to stop processing passports.
In 2008, which was the peak year, the outlook for 2009 was good, Bowen said. However, when the economy started sliding, Franklin County experienced a slowdown in housing starts and sales and watched its investment revenues decrease.
The county expects about $6.8 million in property tax revenue for 2010, including new construction. Because of the deflationary year, rather than have property tax income increase by 1 percent from the previous year, the county lost $125,000, Bowen said.
Sales tax in 2009 has been 14 percent below the previous year, Miller said. In 2010, the county anticipates about $2.4 million in sales tax revenue.
The county keeps only about 13 percent of the taxes people pay, Miller said, with schools receiving about 70 percent and Pasco 11 percent. The rest goes to smaller taxing districts.
Lowe said he plans to ask county commissioners to use the county's full property taxing authority. If the county doesn't take the 1 percent increase permitted by law, it won't be able to catch up.
If commissioners declared an emergency, the county could increase its base property tax income by 1 percent.
The commissioners will likely vote on the final version of the 2010 budget in the first week of December, although it doesn't have to be passed until Dec. 30.
