Courthouse security saved, fire marshal lost in budget plan

By Kristi Pihl, Herald staff writer

Franklin County commissioners believe they have scrimped, saved and squeezed enough out of next year's budget to avoid raising property taxes.

But they plan to add money to make sure security screening continues at the courthouse in Pasco. However, the money for a fire marshal is likely up in smoke.

At Wednesday's budget workshop, the commissioners started putting final touches on what they described as a "gutted" budget. They will vote on it at a later date.

State law allows the county to increase property taxes by 1 percent each year without voter approval. In Franklin County an increase would have added about $125,000 in new revenue, said County Administrator Fred Bowen.

Commissioner Brad Peck said he was reluctant to increase taxes in a down economy.

County departments were asked in October to help cut the county's budget by $1.5 million. For most departments, it meant a 9 percent to 10 percent hit.

After those suggested cuts, the county still had a gap of about $142,000 between its expected revenues and expenses in the $22 million 2010 budget.

Narrowing that difference is what commissioners focused on Wednesday.

Treasurer Tiffany Coffland said she expects sales tax revenue for this year likely will be 16 percent less than for 2008.

But she believes the sales tax revenue for 2010 won't be as low as originally projected. She said the county could safely expect to collect about $100,000 more than initial estimates.

In all, the county expects to collect $2.4 million in sales taxes next year.

The additional $42,000 budget hole will likely be filled from the county's $1.5 million reserve fund, Peck said.

Commissioners also tentatively agreed to add about $72,000 back into the county's security budget, for a total of $178,435. The county earlier intended to cut the department's budget by about 54 percent.

The additional money means that the county will continue have security screening heading into the courthouse and county jail, Bowen said. Without the $72,000, no screening would occur.

The commissioners also expect to cut the fire marshal position, saving about $5,000.

Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel brought his budget down to the $182,000 the commissioners had requested, not including the fire marshal position. The marshal investigates about three or four fires a year, usually when arson is suspected, Commissioner Bob Koch said.

Koch noted the county has been without a fire marshal before.

And rural fire district officials or code enforcement officers would take over the duties of declaring burn bans, he said.

"I think we could eliminate it easily," he said.

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Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Courthouse security saved, fire marshal lost in budget plan

By Kristi Pihl, Herald staff writer