Tentative Budget Approval
Douglas County’s budget process began in February with public meetings between County Commissioners and department heads to discuss the FY 2010-11 budgets. You recall that the county, like all governmental organizations, runs on a fiscal year (FY) that goes from July 1 to June 30 of the next year.
This two day series of meetings gave the department heads, the commissioners, the public, and the Office of Management and Finance (that writes the budget) a chance to take a look at the emerging issues in each department and work through expectations for the next fiscal year.
Our very able Chief Financial Officer then took all of this information and wove a budget together that was presented to the Budget Committee in public meetings held on May 10th and 11th.
The Budget Committee is made up of the three County Commissioners and three citizens who volunteer to serve. The Committee gave tentative approval to a budget that cut almost $5 million from safety net funded programs and reduced 24 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.
The only program that added capacity was the Mental Health division at the Health Department. Because of an increase in available funding (these are pass-through funds from the state and federal level, not safety net dollars) of just under $4 million, the department proposes adding 15 positions to significantly increase mental health services.
The public safety programs continue to be a priority. Twenty-four hour Sheriff’s patrol, operation of the county jail, and full staffing at the DA’s office have been maintained. The Juvenile Department took a 10% safety net reduction, but is able to maintain services by aggressively going after a federal grant. Emergency communications, search and rescue, and DINT did a tremendous job of looking for and getting non safety net funding to provide services.
The net result of this is that Douglas County will be able to grow our reserve fund by about $1.3 million, a tremendous accomplishment!
Next step in the process is another public hearing on June 23rd, with adoption scheduled for June 30th.
Susan always welcomes your questions or comments. Please contact her by email at morgan@co.douglas.or.us; by mail at Douglas County Courthouse, Room 217, 1036 SE Douglas, Roseburg, 97470; or by phone at 440-4201.