EVERETT — The Snohomish County Council and County Executive Aaron Reardon are trying to hammer out a budget agreement before Monday’s final 2009 budget deadline.
The council’s proposal, presented this week by County Council Chairman Dave Somers, would trim about 9 percent from the county budget and eliminate about 160 jobs from county government.
“This budget has been crafted to respond to the unprecedented economic crisis that has engulfed our county, state, nation and even world,” Somers said in a statement.
Jobs in every county department would be trimmed, including the county executive’s office and the County Council, officials said.
“It is painful for all of us to eliminate jobs that provide invaluable service to the residents of our county,” Somers wrote. “We have endeavored to find creative ways to reduce the number of positions that must be eliminated, find programs to keep our employees within the county family and provide assistance to all.”
Somers and Reardon declined to talk about the negotiations.
“We’ve jointly agreed to not negotiate in public,” Councilman Mike Cooper said.
Most county government departments have been asked to trim their budgets by 9 percent to balance the 2009 budget, which is expected to face a shortfall of $21 million or more.
The shortfall projection has grown steadily worse since Reardon presented his ideas for the budget in September. At that time, he proposed cutting about 100 positions. County department heads complained that they’d been left out of Reardon’s budget process, and have since submitted ideas to the council on how to cut costs.
Somers said he worked cooperatively with the department heads and other elected officials to craft the council’s proposal.
“I believe there has never been an instance in the history of Snohomish County when they have been called upon to work together in such a team manner, and they responded admirably,” Somers said in a prepared statement.
He said the county’s financial analysts believe the local economy could rebound next year. But an economic resurgence won’t immediately help departments that rely on the county’s general fund, which is only revised once a year.
“I think it is time we told the public the truth: We will be doing less with less,” Somers wrote. “It is no longer possible to just find ‘fat’ in our programs. Further reductions in our programs will mean vital needs will go unmet.”
County government will not be able to absorb new programs created by the Legislature or the federal government, Somers argued.
“We will be doing the best that we can, but we will not be doing all we should,” he wrote.
The council has received more than 300 suggestions from county workers of ways to save money. A common suggestion is to allow employees to volunteer to work shorter work weeks or to take unpaid time off, Somers said.
The council has asked unions representing county workers to consider instituting a 10-day unpaid leave for each worker. The days would be used by each worker as requested throughout the year. That change could save the county between $3 million and $6 million, Somers said.
“That money could be used to retain staff,” Somers said.
It’s unclear if the furloughs are part of the ongoing negotiations. Cooper said it’s possible that county leaders will work through the weekend to meet Monday’s deadline.
Reporter Krista Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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