County financial report worsens

EVERETT — Tough times are only getting worse for Snoho­mish County’s budget.

Just as residents prepared to tell their elected leaders why they should keep public services they rely on, the County Council was told to expect sales tax revenues to be much less than they’d counted on.

“The County Council should consider reducing 2009 anticipated sales tax revenue source by over 70 percent,” Executive Aaron Reardon wrote in a memo Tuesday. That means slashing the sales tax estimate from $5.7 million to $1.7 million, he told the council.

The anticipated sales-tax shortfall amounts to less than 1 percent of an annual budget expected to total around $630 million, but it follows a string of bad financial news for the county.

This year’s budget shortfall is expected to hit about $10 million by the end of the year. When Reardon unveiled his recommendations for the 2009-10 budget last month, he said the jobs of nearly 100 county workers should be cut to make ends meet. A handful of county workers have already been asked to leave, although no budget has been adopted.

“I’ve been here since 1991, and this is the worst situation we’ve been in, in that period of time,” Councilman Dave Gossett said as he addressed more than 100 people who turned out for Wednesday’s meeting.

Reardon’s budget, which was rejected by the council, also recommended the county end its identity theft prevention program, close the Office of Children’s Affairs and lay off the fairgrounds manager and dozens of others spread throughout most departments.

The council, which must approve a 2009-10 budget by Nov. 24, held the meeting to gather information as they weigh the work ahead of them. Reardon also attended.

Nervous residents lined up to plead for programs that have helped them. Advocates of the county’s senior centers argued that the council should approve a funding increase — one of the few programs Reardon’s budget recommended giving more money.

Nurses and other health workers lobbied for more money to serve the poor and disadvantaged. People who have worked on building the county’s Centennial Trail said work should continue to complete it.

Carra Connors, 31, told the elected leaders that her life has changed dramatically, and for the better, since she was accepted into Project Self-­Sufficiency last year. Reardon’s budget cut the two-year program, reasoning that it serves 100 people every year, but costs nearly half a million each year to run.

When Connors was finished speaking, Reardon, who sat with the council behind the dais, told her that the services she receives from Project Self-Sufficiency will still be available to her. The program connects clients with counselors who help them get Section 8 subsidized housing and other services.

Reardon told Deanna Dawson, the county’s executive director, to take Connors aside and explain to her that the county’s cuts wouldn’t affect her.

Councilman Mike Cooper later said that the county has a two-year contract with each Project Self-Sufficiency client, and should honor that contract even during tight financial times.

Cooper criticized Reardon for promising people such as Connors that services would continue even though many county workers could be laid off.

“I’m very concerned about statements made saying that we’re not cutting services,” Cooper said. “I don’t understand how you can cut programs and not cut services.”

With the deepening national economic crisis and the county’s finances apparently following suit, Council Chairman Dave Somers has said it’s likely that more people will lose their jobs than Reardon thought necessary.

Later, Connors said that she’d still be trying to get her life together without Project Self-Sufficiency. She is now a student at Everett Community College and is considering a career in social work, helping former drug addicts.

“Through long talks with my counselor I realized what I really wanted to do in life,” he said.

Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.