County will fire ‘handful' of employees

Reorganization, other fund options affect 35 jobs

Friday, May 15, 2009

A "handful" of current county workers will lose their jobs, according to County Administrator Paul W. Comfort.

Among the list of options available to the county to make up the $2.3 million deficit are the 35 county jobs — or 5 percent of the workforce — up for reallocation, defunding or elimination.

Comfort explained there are a "handful" of the 20 county positions up for review that could be eliminated. He said the cut would most likely affect one or two functional groups, which are sets of staffers assigned specific tasks within the workforce hierarchy.

The other 15 jobs will stay off the chopping block, Comfort said, but the source of financing for those positions will be reallocated to more appropriate areas of the budget.

The personnel reorganization will save the county about $1.2 million, which is what the proposed four-day work week would have given back to the county had the bill for that adjustment passed.

"That proposal did not meet several critical tests," said Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D). "We are at the level of government closest to the people. There are new realizations that require the hardest decisions at our table. In the big picture sense, we're finally moving from an age of indulgence to an age of austerity."

Commissioners and staff have spent the better part of 2009 scrutinizing the county's finances in an effort to stay out of the red and prepare for continued fiscal woes, not unlike the rest of the country's jurisdictions. Maryland's government faces continuing revenue shortfalls that could amount to more than $2 billion next year.

Since late April, adjustments to revenues and expenditures have reallocated money around the county, leaving only a slice of the initial deficit figure remaining in the county's ledger.

The proposed expenditure figure for the county had topped $311 million before May, and that number actually grew by $1.5 million before this week's commissioners' meeting.

Early projections for the county's operating revenue were posted at $301 million, though a loss of $386,000 in highway user tax dropped that figure, an additional $5.2 million from developer contributions and project surpluses from a capital project fund transfer boosted the final recommended number to $309 million in revenue.

Along with restructuring of the payroll, the commissioners are also looking at closing out seven capital projects that will give $900,000 back to the county, Comfort said.

Another option, that will save the county more than $500,000, is to start charging a fee for EMS basic life support services and mileage. Currently the county does not bill for either.

"To do otherwise is to leave money on the table," Comfort said.

Comfort said the county would charge the fee to patients with insurance coverage that would pay it, but would not pursue the fee for uninsured residents.

About $200,000 will be saved by cutting back on contractual tree trimming around the county.

Comfort also said the county would be looking into a purchase-card system which would give rebates to the county when buying utility services or things such as office supplies.

"What is not said — but certainly we are all aware of — are the challenges in Charles County in the ways of looking at the quality of life … and looking at the numbers," said commissioners' Vice President Edith J. Patterson (D). "There were choices to close some facilities and cut services, but to do that would be unconscionable."

"I wish I could say today that we've solved all our problems … but we'll continue to be forced to look at these issues," said Commissioner Reuben B. Collins II (D). "The budget process brought to light how [serious] these issues are. Being able to continue the process of providing services is not a challenge limited to Charles County."

Lacking the support of Charles County commissioners' President F. Wayne Cooper (D) — who supported Patterson's request for a report on the Developers' Rights and Responsibilities Account before his approval — an otherwise general consensus was reached among the commissioners to move forward with the budget proposal and deficit options and to schedule a public hearing during their May 20 meeting.

Cooper voiced his concern after it was announced that $2 million from the DRRA had been transferred to subsidize the gap in revenue.

"It sounds to me like the debt is worse than it is," Cooper said.

The DRRA is comprised of cash contributions from developers, with most of the dollars unofficially earmarked for school-related construction, said Budget Director David Eicholtz.

The money can be used to forward-fund the state's share of school construction and finance the county's portion of a school's cost. Eicholtz said the report Cooper requested will determine if the transfer will affect planned school construction.

There is about $14.5 million currently in the fund, but Eicholtz projected that by the end of fiscal 2009 the balance will be lower. He suggested the number would increase again, as the DRRA is constantly shifting between contributions and payouts.

msomers@somdnews.com