State budget cuts strike without warning

    Washington County officials are still trying to wrap their heads around the effects of the 10 percent state cuts Governor Chet Culver announced earlier this month. County supervisor Wes Rich said everyone was surprised to learn of the cuts.

    ?We really had no warning this was going to happen,? said Rich. ?We receive a newsletter from our state senators and representatives, and there was nothing in there that indicated cuts were on the horizon.?

    Rich said that the county program that will be most affected by the cuts is the Mental Health Disabilities Services.

    Mental health director Bobbie Wulf said her department received $778,000 from the state last year to complement a total budget of $2.1 million. She said that the state told her of an expected cut several months ago.

    Wulf said the state told the county in July that their expected tax release dollars would be $660,000 for the upcoming year, $100,000 less than a year ago. Wulf said that that figure would be reduced even further now that the cuts have been announced. She said a new estimate of expected tax release dollars will be announced next month.

    ?We haven?t made a plan as to how we?re going to handle the cuts,? said Wulf. ?We?re looking to save money wherever possible. I?m afraid that the cuts will mean fewer individualized mental health services in the future.?

    County auditor Bill Fredrick said that the cuts will not substantially affect other departments because the state supplies a small share of the county?s budget.

    ?I think mental health will be hit hard, but most of our other departments don?t receive enough state money to affect jobs at the county level,? said Fredrick. ?I don?t think any county department has excess staff. If anything, we are wanting for staff.?

For the full story, see the Oct. 28 edition of The Washington Evening Journal