Though it will be months before Hennepin County knows exactly what its state aid will be for 2010-11, officials said Thursday that one thing is clear: The funding picture is bad and will only get worse.
State funding to Minnesota's most populous county will likely drop by more than $100 million during the biennium, county commissioners were told in a briefing Thursday. The county's 2009 budget is about $1.7 billion.
As board members unhappily eyed estimates of state cuts suggested in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's budget, County Administrator Richard Johnson warned them that the picture is expected to get gloomier when a new economic forecast comes out at the end of this month.
"It's going to get worse," he said. "Today, this is the best."
County officials have already restricted hiring, limited travel and said they will ask department heads to begin thinking about cuts. The county also has the right to sever contracts with its many vendors on 30 days' notice -- a right commissioners stressed when they approved the 2009 budget in December.
Officials said that though they lacked specifics -- Pawlenty's budget could change considerably as legislators weigh in -- they wanted commissioners to know the general lay of the land so they can start thinking about how to save money.
The single biggest loss in state funds that go to the county would be a $29.3 million reduction in county program aid. That aid, which is used as general property tax relief and is distributed throughout the county budget, would be cut roughly in half over the biennium.
Dave Lawless, county finance director, said after the meeting he expects that fund to take a big hit no matter what legislators do. Given the budget problems at the state level, he said, "It is unrealistic to expect that [cut] to go down."
