EVERETT — Across-the-board cuts aren’t a popular solution for Snohomish County’s budget this year — though they might be the best option available right now.
Snohomish County leaders agreed with reluctance Wednesday to ask all county departments to take a nearly 2.6 percent cut. Similar to last year, when most of the county’s 2,700 workers agreed to take 11 days off without pay, falling revenues have forced the County Council and the executive’s office to re-examine their spending in 2010.
The latest adjustment means that people will lose jobs — and that, in turn, will limit public services.
“Across-the-board cuts are very difficult for the Superior Court,” presiding Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair told the council. “We have to take in the business that comes in through our door.”
Recent annexations have lessened responsibilities for some county departments. But Superior and juvenile courts must, by law, serve the entire county. The Clerk’s Office, the assessor, the jail and other functions of county government also have an obligation to serve the entire county.
The council voted 3-0 Wednesday to eliminate about $6.5 million in spending this year. That should take care of a $3.6 million revenue shortfall and add $2.9 million to the county’s cash reserves. The infusion of money will bring the county’s reserves above 5 percent.
Councilman Brian Sullivan was absent and Councilman Mike Cooper remains on medical leave.
In anticipation of the vote, some managers had already told workers they might be laid off.
The Superior and juvenile courts are likely to lose four clerical positions, not the eight originally feared, court administrator Bob Terwilliger said.
District courts intend to cut four probation officers and two clerks. The county Auditor’s Office also is losing an animal-control position.
The situation could get worse next year, council Chairman Dave Gossett warned.
“It’s going to be ugly, and it’s going to be difficult, and everybody is going to take a hit probably beyond what we have now,” Gossett said.
When the County Council passed the 2010 budget in November, only Councilman John Koster voted against it.
“I’m not surprised we’re back here today,” he said Wednesday.
Koster said the budget that passed didn’t look hard enough at cutting funding for good, but nonessential, services such as Washington State University Extension programs and senior centers.
The priority, he said, should be to spare court functions and other services required by law.
Though calling the one-size-fits-all cut “a lousy way to manage the budget,” Koster said he would still vote for it.
The budget that passed included five furlough days that most workers, except those not represented by a union, declined to accept.
“It’s disappointing to me this year that we were unable to incorporate that into our budget because that would’ve saved jobs,” Koster said.
A year ago, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ Council 2, which represents two-thirds of the county work force, agreed to give up almost all cost-of-living increases for 2009 and to commit to a wage freeze in 2010.
The union might have considered furloughs if the County Council had taken other measures, staff representative James Trefry said. The union had hoped to see a small property-tax increase to boost the county’s general fund — a majority of the council turned that down — and a more focused approach to budget cuts that took annexations and mandatory services into account.
“We would really like to partner with the county, looking at what kind of services the county is going to provide as more of the population lives in incorporated areas,” Trefry told the council.
A spokesman with County Executive Aaron Reardon’s Office on Wednesday did not return calls seeking comment about whether any employees under the executive’s supervision might lose their jobs. Reardon’s office issued a press release applauding the council’s action and estimating economic recovery could be a year or more away.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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