Washington County sings budget blues

Citing the weak economy, a Washington County commissioner has dusted off his usual list of proposed budget cuts, but his fellow commissioners say the county is running lean already.

"With the housing crisis, and it looks like a recession coming on, now is certainly not the time to be looking at wanting to get more money out of people when they have less money," said Bill Pulkrabek, whose district includes the cities of Oakdale, Lake Elmo, Landfall and part of Woodbury.

Commissioner Myra Peterson countered that Washington County has the second lowest property tax rate in Minnesota, ranking 85th out of 86 counties.

The county's preliminary 2009 budget calls for a maximum property tax increase of 4.9 percent increase over last year. The Board of Commissioners must adopt a final budget by the end of the year, but in the meantime it can make changes to the proposed budget.

Pulkrabek's list, which targets about 15 programs and services, was discussed last week at a county board workshop.

The workshop didn't result from concern that the proposed 2009 county budget was in trouble, said Molly O'Rourke, the county's deputy administrator and budget director. She also said, however, that the county continues to monitor possible shortfalls in expected revenue next year. The state's November budget forecast could lead to legislative action that in turn would affect county budgets, O'Rourke said.

"Who could have predicted the downturn in the economy?" she said. "No one knew it would be this bad."

Peterson described the consensus at the workshop as subdued. "The reaction to Bill's list was not much of a reaction," she said.

Dennis Hegberg, the county board chairman, said there isn't widespread support on the board for Pulkrabek's list. But he acknowledged that the commissioner may have more support after the elections.

The District 5 seat in the Woodbury area is up for election, allowing the new commissioner to play a role in determining the final budget. Cheryl Hurst and Lisa Weik are the candidates competing for the District 5 seat, replacing Commissioner Dick Stafford, who was appointed this year and won't seek reelection.

Weik, who describes herself as a fiscal conservative, said she favors cuts in the 2009 budget to avoid anticipated revenue shortfalls. She, like Pulkrabek, supports selling the Washington County Historic Courthouse to save the county $244,800 in operational and upkeep costs. She also favors reduced costs in the county's chemical dependency treatment program by requiring clients to pay for their own visits after two or three visits.

And also like Pulkabek, she favors a higher charge to cities for work the county performs to assess property. An increase in the charge to 90 percent instead of the current 52 percent would save about $640,000, she said.

Hurst, a former Woodbury City Council member, said county commissioners and county staff have produced "a fiscally responsible budget proposal" that is one of the leanest in Minnesota.

She said that employee health care costs have risen, fuel costs fluctuate for snowplows and public safety vehicles, and the costs of building roads continue to escalate. The proposed net county tax, she said, would add $9 a year to a $250,000 house if there were no shift in house value.

Hurst said county officials did well at budgeting for essential services with minimal tax increases.

Pulkrabek said he started making his "Porky Pig list" about eight years ago, and brings it out every now and again. He used his basic philosophy of what the government's role should be to guide him in recommending particular programs and services to cut. "I really do believe the county should stick to the core functions of government and perform those services well," he said. "Don't try to be everything to everyone."

Many of the county programs on this year's list serve the poor and senior citizens. Pulkrabek said he wasn't targeting any particular group.

"With the [Housing and Redevelopment Authority] and the Workforce Center, I don't think that government should be involved in these endeavors," he said. "I just have a fundamentally different view that the government is involved in things it shouldn't be involved in."

Peterson, whose district includes St. Paul Park, Cottage Grove and Hastings, objected to Pulkrabek's proposal to cut county aid to the Workforce Center at a time when so many people were out of work. She said she might agree with his suggestion to eliminate funding for 4H programs, worth about $131,300 in the upcoming budget, if money gets tight.

Linda Ji of Woodbury is one Washington County resident who thinks that budget cuts tend to come at the expense of people who most need county services. She has a 17-year-old developmentally disabled son involved in county programs.

"We have never seen anything change in county administration to make it more efficient," said Ji, an attorney. She suggests that the county look into combining some of its social services programs with Dakota County and merge some jobs to cut administrative overhead.

"They never talk to us and ask what we need," she said.