Cecil County Budget Panel: Layoffs ‘Last Resort;’ Review Public Safety
A citizens’ budget advisory panel told the Cecil County Commissioners Tuesday that employee layoffs or furloughs should only be a “last resort,” public schools should be funded at a compromise level and rising public safety spending needs “further scrutiny.”
It took weeks of political wrangling by the Cecil County Commissioners to name the five-member panel (see previous Cecil Times report here: http://ceciltimes.com/2011/02/cecil-commissioners-name-budget-advisors-mullin-picks-smipkin-pac-donor/
But once appointed, the citizens’ group got down to business quickly and produced its recommendations without any hint of partisanship.
James Butkiewicz spoke on behalf of the panel, telling the Commissioners at a Tuesday worksession that the group worked well together and “Nobody came in with an agenda” and “Everybody had an open mind.”
The panel cited public safety as the fastest-growing major cost area for the county and amounting to a “growing share of the budget,” Butkiewicz told the Commissioners.
In the report, the group said it reviewed revenues and expenditures from 2001-2010 and found that public safety spending rose from 13.9 percent of county spending in 2001 to 18.4 percent of expenditures in 2010. “Clearly this area of expenditures deserves further scrutiny,” the report said, adding that this category was growing faster than the growth in county revenues and as such was “clearly unsustainable.”
(After the meeting, Butkiewicz told Cecil Times that the panel was only looking at operating budget figures and that the capital budget costs associated with construction of the new jail facility were not factored into the panel’s assessment of the rising costs of public safety.) The public safety category includes the Sheriff’s Department, the county detention center, aid to fire companies, emergency services and communications, and paramedic/EMS services.
The report also did not mention the county crime rate or the significant increase in the county’s population in the past decade and how that growth might impact the need for increased public safety spending. But the report did note that the number of public safety employees in relation to the population rose from one employee per 357.2 residents to one per 348.8 residents. (The report did not compare the ratio to that of other counties in the same time period.)
See previous Cecil Times report on public safety budget requests this year here:
http://ceciltimes.com/2011/03/cecil-county-budget-crime-punishment-and-canines-come-to-commissioners/
The budget advisers found that education spending had declined as a proportion of the county’s overall spending, but is still the largest single cost center. Education currently constitutes 41.2 percent of spending, the report said, a drop from 49.9 percent of spending at the beginning of the decade examined by the panel.
At the same time, employment increased from one per 8.2 enrolled students to one per 7 students. But during that period, the county complied with a state mandate to offer full-time kindergarten programs for the first time and had to add staff to aid rising numbers of special education students.
Butkiewicz told the commissioners that last-minute changes in Annapolis to previously proposed cuts in state per-pupil education aid would cushion the schools budget more than previously anticipated and he suggested a compromise on county funds for the schools system.
The panel’s report proposed a $1 million cut in county-provided schools funds, which would be $200,000 over the bare-bones “maintenance of effort” spending level mandated by the state that is based on projected student enrollment, the panel suggested.
But Tom Kappra, chief financial officer for the county public schools who attended Tuesday’s worksession, told Cecil Times after the meeting that the panel’s figures did not accurately reflect the full impact of decisions in Annapolis. The General Assembly decided to pass on costs to the county of handling school employee pensions, an assessment that will for the first time impose a cost of $317,000 on the school system.
In addition, the panel calculated that the county’s current debt levels, mostly for capital improvement projects, amounts to about $1,400 to $1,500 per resident in the county. Butkiewicz said the county should strive to reduce its debt level, just as families are cutting back on credit card debt in today’s economy. But he cautioned against cutting back too much on needed road, bridge and building repair projects, because the county could “get into deferred maintenance issues” that could ultimately result in more costly repairs.
In other recommendations, the budget panel suggested the county consider leasing, rather than owning, vehicles; finding cheaper cell phone services; and imposing a hiring freeze to save $375,000 or more.
But the citizens’ panel warned that the county should try to avoid any layoffs or furloughs of county employees and consider that step only as “last resort.”
However, the county public schools have already proposed staff reductions and potential layoffs to meet its reduced budget projections.
Thanks for a clear and accurate view of our county’s budget problems.