The Pulaski County Council is slowly making progress on its 2020 budget, but there’s still a long way to go. Monday’s special meeting continued late into the night, as members reviewed the proposal line item by line item.
Some minor cost reductions were recommended for specific line items in various departments, but the county’s financial situation had council members looking at much larger cuts, even to the point of eliminating entire departments. Specifically, Rudy DeSabatine questioned the need for the Soil & Water Conservation District and the Microfilm Department. “When we have to knock $600,000 out, some people are going to lose their jobs,” DeSabatine said. “I’m telling you that right now.”
Some audience members even suggested eliminating the county’s Maintenance Department and having jail inmates do the work, but Sheriff Jeff Richwine didn’t think that would be cost-effective due to the potential liability.
One of DeSabatine’s other suggestions was to cut several departments’ budgets for part-time employees. Several of the department heads in attendance protested that idea. Clerk JoLynn Behny said the help will be needed for next year’s presidential election, while Treasurer Teresa Bryant said she needs the help during tax collection times. Building Inspector Doug Hoover has long been pushing for his part-time assistant to be given full-time status, but DeSabatine seemed to want to eliminate the position altogether. “Cut the part-time help!” he said.
Council Member Kathi Thompson explained, “If you cut the part-time help, you put it down to a one-person shop.”
“Okay,” DeSabatine replied.
Council members have also been cutting several departments’ overtime budgets, but department heads warned that additional appropriations may be needed, if extra work should come up. Cuts to benefits and elected officials’ pay also appear to be on the table.
One of the biggest concerns is the Sheriff’s Department’s budget, since the jail income tax that’s one of its major funding sources will go away after next year. To prepare, Council Member Thompson suggested cutting 10 percent, with one area for potential reductions being the vehicle fleet. “We need to get vehicles off our insurance policy because we pay through the nose on our insurance policies, and we need to keep our vehicles running and in good repair,” she said. “The coroner needs a new vehicle, so the next vehicle to turn over, maybe the coroner can get a new vehicle, but we’ve got to get some of these vehicles off the road.”
Thompson also suggested cutting the proposed IT budget. “It’s the commissioners’ decision, but we cannot afford $120,000, so I cut it to $83,000, which would be a $65,000-a-year IT person with benefits,” she said. “If the commissioners do not hire an IT person, that would be 11 hours a week.” She also hopes to save money by cutting down on unused cell phones.
But even as council members are working to cut the budget, Thompson proposed adding a new $110,000 line item for security. County officials have been calling on council members to fund courthouse security for years, and every court in the state is now mandated to implement a security plan by January.
Monday’s discussion continued past 10:00 p.m., and issues with the computer that had all of the budget information only made matters worse. With much of the cutting still to be done, council members agreed to hold another special meeting next Monday. Budget adoption is set for October 14.
