Lane County’s proposed budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 has been released, and, predictably, it reflects the county’s attempt to slim down expenditures in the face of dismal economic conditions.
The current proposed budget is projected at $549.7 million, a 6.14-percent decrease from the 2009-10 fiscal year. Of that total, approximately $70.4 million is the discretionary general fund. That fund suffered a 6.5-percent decrease.
“The proposed budget attempts to provide for the minimum level of services needed to support a healthy community,” County Administrator Jeff Spartz said.
He referred to the county’s current budgetary situation as “hitting a recessionary wall.”
The budget approval process got underway on Thursday when the Lane County budget committee released its proposed budget. At this point, the total budget has been adjusted from last year according to projected shortfalls. The approximately $550 million will be allocated to core county services: According to the committee, measuring actual results of public services will be the gauge of a program’s priority within the scant budget.
Because of the shrinking budget, maintaining the county’s current level of services
is impossible.
The committee also presented on Thursday a budget message titled “Another Precarious Budget,” a document authored by the committee that aims to clarify the impending changes in the county budget.
The message outlines a basic funding philosophy that attempts to strike a balance between maintaining current service levels and sustaining services into the future.
According to the budget committee, the county’s program funding philosophy is centered on three focuses: providing effective outcomes, leveraging other funds and maintaining the
general fund.
The first focus — providing effective outcomes — refers to the county using funds efficiently.
“Lane County believes that low-quality services delivering poor outcomes are a poor use of public money. What we are able to do, we must do well,” the budget committee wrote.
Lane County isn’t alone in its commitment to efficiency, as state and federal programs are facing similar cutbacks in what has been recognized as a national recession.
Health Assessment Coordinator Megan Lindley of the Department of Human Services for the State of Oregon, which has mandated monthly furlough days and frozen outside hiring and pay raises, said staff in her office are already taking on extra duties to maintain service.
“We’re finding ways to work around it,” Lindley said of furlough days. “Obviously the child welfare hot line cannot just completely shut down. There’s always going to be at least one person here … we’re not just completely closed on furlough days; we’re making do.”
The second focus for Lane County’s budget is leveraging funds, meaning the county will favor programs that are highly prioritized by the state and/or federal government because the governments will match the county’s funding. 
“That will be the tendency,” Spartz said. “Fortunately these are usually areas that we agree are important.”
The third focus will be on maintaining the general fund.
About one-eighth the size of the total budget, the general fund is the county’s most flexible source of funding and is used to fill budget holes and supplement community welfare.
The budget approval process will continue for several weeks to come, with the budget committee and public service organizations scheduled to hold open work sessions every Tuesday and Thursday evening until May 20. 
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