On March 21, the Lane County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a net $12.9 million increase in the county’s budget, with the biggest gains going to infrastructure, Health and Human Services and county administration. The biggest cuts reflect delayed funds for roads and money spent on rent relief.
The net increase in the budget comes from incorporating funds the county received from the American Rescue Plan, but the new budget also shifts funds between departments and years. This money is not yet allocated to specific projects, just these broader pools.
The largest change is a $14.3 million subtraction from the General Road fund. Lane County Budget Manager Christine Moody said the shift is to fund multiple road projects which were delayed to next year.
Other changes include an increase of $5.3 million to the Capital Improvement Fund, a fund used for infrastructure projects, and a $5 million increase to the Health and Human Services Fund which is gaining seven full-time employees.
The Intergovernmental Human Services Fund, which the county shares with the cities of Eugene and Springfield and according to the county budget document includes “Human Services Administration, Family Mediation, Energy & Conservation Services, Human Services Management Information System, Human Services and Housing, and Veterans Services,” is decreasing by $1.8 million. Moody said the biggest piece of this is money from the previous round of ARPA funding that has been spent on pandemic rental assistance.
$1.3 million will go to the County Administration’s budget for wildfire recovery and $368,000 to the Sheriff’s Office, both of which are gaining a full-time employee.
Additional allocations include $695,000 to the Lane Events Center, $282,000 to rural schools and $240,000 to garbage disposal.
In addition to the American Rescue Plan Act funds added to the county’s budget, commissioners also allocated $141,000 from ARPA to Row River Fire Response and $50,000 to the Pleasant Hill Goshen Fire and Rescue.
According to its website, Row River Fire Response is a newly recognized nonprofit organization that acts as a fire department for the Row River Valley, a rural community of about 400 homes located about 30 minutes from the nearest fire and emergency medical services station in Cottage Grove.
Row River Fire Response Board Chair Scott Byler thanked commissioners.
“It was about a year ago when I watched the most recent house burn to the ground. It was almost a year ago when we … started this process of trying to find some way to build a fire district for the Row River Valley,” Byler said. “This funding will help us to obtain the signatures necessary to pay the fees necessary to get it on the ballot.”
This has been the third update to the 2022-23 fiscal year county budget since it was passed in June. The first update with a $64.6 million increase came in September, mostly to add money from grants including ARPA. The second update came in December to remove some Health & Human services staff added for the pandemic and to update funds as departments spent more or less than projected, resulting in a net $28.2 million increase.
