Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2014 17:55:04 GMT -6
County looking at layoffs
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Posted: Friday, November 21, 2014 10:19 pm
Mike Billy, michaelb@mywebtimes.com, 815-431-4045 | 1 comment
La Salle County is facing an $11 million budget deficit for the coming year and may need to layoff employees in the near future.
At a county board meeting Friday, Finance and Fees Chairperson Arratta Znaniecki addressed the dilemma during discussions before the county's 2014-15 budget being approved.
"The next step is going to have to be reduction in force," she said. "We can not continue to pay the payrolls that we do and give to (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) and Social Security. We just can't sustain this."
Znaniecki added there aren't many other places to look for spending cuts in the budget.
"We just could not find any other line items we could eliminate and keep the county running efficiently," she said.
Board member David Zielke said he believes there are still other places the county could look to cut the budget and that $50,000 and $100,000 projects can add up quickly.
"We just can't keep going in the hole because everyone wants their little piece of the pie taken care of," he said.
Other options could be cutting services or raising fees.
State law requires the county do a fee study before increasing fees for services, which the county is in the process of completing. The county is then limited to raising fees within the suggestions of the study, Znaniecki said.
County Board Chairman Jerry Hicks said the county is in good shape financially and has a high bond rating.
"We have to watch our dollars and we'll be in good shape," he said.
Znaniecki said this isn't the first time layoffs have been discussed: "It's just now we need to get really serious about."
Total income in the county's budget was about $63.2 million with spending at $74.4 million.
Income in the general fund is at $24.4 million while expenditures are at $29.2 million.
The budget passed with a vote of 21 to 3 with five board members absent. Mike Sheridan, Walter Roach, Jr. and Chuck Borchsenius voted against the proposed budget.
"We still need to do the hard things and that's going to be either cut force or change payroll and benefits — it all has to be looked at," Borchsenius said.
The budget lists the county's tax levy at about $650,000 higher than last year's, which is around a 3 percent increase.
High-capacity well moratorium
The board also approved extending an existing moratorium on high-capacity wells.
The moratorium was set to expire Monday, Dec. 1, and has been extended to Monday, June 8, to give the county time to conduct a water study to determine the impact of high-capacity wells on drinking water.
In October, the Finance and Fees Committee added an item to the budget to spend $60,000 on the study if it is approved at a later date by the full county board. The estimated cost for the study is $136,800.
The county is looking at other sources of funding for the rest of the study including additional municipalities and private sources.
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Posted: Friday, November 21, 2014 10:19 pm
Mike Billy, michaelb@mywebtimes.com, 815-431-4045 | 1 comment
La Salle County is facing an $11 million budget deficit for the coming year and may need to layoff employees in the near future.
At a county board meeting Friday, Finance and Fees Chairperson Arratta Znaniecki addressed the dilemma during discussions before the county's 2014-15 budget being approved.
"The next step is going to have to be reduction in force," she said. "We can not continue to pay the payrolls that we do and give to (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) and Social Security. We just can't sustain this."
Znaniecki added there aren't many other places to look for spending cuts in the budget.
"We just could not find any other line items we could eliminate and keep the county running efficiently," she said.
Board member David Zielke said he believes there are still other places the county could look to cut the budget and that $50,000 and $100,000 projects can add up quickly.
"We just can't keep going in the hole because everyone wants their little piece of the pie taken care of," he said.
Other options could be cutting services or raising fees.
State law requires the county do a fee study before increasing fees for services, which the county is in the process of completing. The county is then limited to raising fees within the suggestions of the study, Znaniecki said.
County Board Chairman Jerry Hicks said the county is in good shape financially and has a high bond rating.
"We have to watch our dollars and we'll be in good shape," he said.
Znaniecki said this isn't the first time layoffs have been discussed: "It's just now we need to get really serious about."
Total income in the county's budget was about $63.2 million with spending at $74.4 million.
Income in the general fund is at $24.4 million while expenditures are at $29.2 million.
The budget passed with a vote of 21 to 3 with five board members absent. Mike Sheridan, Walter Roach, Jr. and Chuck Borchsenius voted against the proposed budget.
"We still need to do the hard things and that's going to be either cut force or change payroll and benefits — it all has to be looked at," Borchsenius said.
The budget lists the county's tax levy at about $650,000 higher than last year's, which is around a 3 percent increase.
High-capacity well moratorium
The board also approved extending an existing moratorium on high-capacity wells.
The moratorium was set to expire Monday, Dec. 1, and has been extended to Monday, June 8, to give the county time to conduct a water study to determine the impact of high-capacity wells on drinking water.
In October, the Finance and Fees Committee added an item to the budget to spend $60,000 on the study if it is approved at a later date by the full county board. The estimated cost for the study is $136,800.
The county is looking at other sources of funding for the rest of the study including additional municipalities and private sources.