EVERETT — The Snohomish County Council rejected the county executive’s proposed budget Wednesday, less than a week after it was publicly unveiled.
Council chairman Dave Somers said the council plans to throw out county Executive Aaron Reardon’s 2009-10 proposed budget and “start from scratch.”
“We appreciate the executive’s suggestions, but his proposal does too little, too late for the residents of Snohomish County,” Somers said.
The council’s move to toss Reardon’s budget is nothing more than “arrogant grandstanding,” said Christopher Schwarzen, Reardon’s spokesman.
“It’s insulting to the 100 county employees across all departments who spent thousands of hours putting together the proposed budget,” he said. “It flies in the face of a proven method that’s pulled this county out of a deficit before.”
Reardon left late last week for a two-week trade mission to China. Schwarzen said he’s not sure whether Reardon will try to change the council’s mind when he returns.
Under Reardon’s budget, nearly 100 county workers would lose their jobs, and 50 positions that are currently vacant would be eliminated.
The job cuts began in the hours after Reardon presented his budget proposal a week ago.
At least 40 workers in the county’s Planning Department were informed their jobs would likely be gone by years’ end, Somers said. Schwarzen last week said that wasn’t true.
At least three people in the county’s Human Services Department were given pink slips, but the executive’s office maintained that the change was restructuring, not a budget cut.
Regardless, county employees are calling it “Black Thursday,” Somers said.
Reardon’s proposed job cuts would affect public safety, Somers said. Under his budget, county Prosecuting Attorney Janice Ellis would be forced to lay off 10 workers. Among those lost could be employees who handle the county’s identity-theft-prevention program. Clerk Sonya Kraski could lose four positions, and the county’s Corrections Department would lose 13.
Other major cuts proposed by Reardon include 23 jobs in the Human Services Department and 52 jobs in the Planning Department.
Reardon also failed to account for $500 million in transportation projects that must be completed to keep the county in compliance with growth rules, Somers said.
Somers and other elected officials have complained in recent months that Reardon blocked them from participating in the budget process.
The county develops its budgets using a computer program. Council members last week said Reardon’s office cut off their access to the program in June and didn’t restore it until last week.
Ellis, Kraski and other elected department heads said they weren’t given an opportunity to suggest how to trim their own budgets or information about how much needed to be cut. They expressed surprise last week that Reardon would tell them which of their employees should lose their jobs.
Ellis said she plans to ask the council to let her decide how to manage any necessary budget cuts in her department. She said she’s confident the council will defer to the authority she received when voters elected her to be prosecutor.
The council approved the switch to a two-year budget cycle late last year in part to save taxpayers more than $100,000 in administrative costs. The council still plans to approve a final budget by Nov. 24, Somers said. Starting from scratch won’t cost any more than if the council had simply approved Reardon’s plans, he said.
“We’ll take (Reardon’s budget) as a guide, which in fact is what it is,” he said. “The executive suggests the budget and the council is responsible for preparing and adopting that budget. We just want a fresh look.”
Schwarzen said the council is obligated under the county charter to take seriously Reardon’s proposed budget and make any changes through amendments.
“Will they really go back and start from scratch? I don’t know,” Schwarzen said. “It seems like a lot of time and money spent. I don’t even know what that would cost.”
The council likely will keep portions of Reardon’s budget intact, but so many changes are needed that it’s easier to start with a clean slate, Somers said.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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