Montrose - Daily Press

In these difficult economic times, fiscal responsibility remains a top priority for the Montrose Board of County Commissioners and county staff. With the decline of county revenue (including sales and use tax receipts and federal and state funding), the BOCC and county management realize difficult decisions must be made to maintain a balanced budget and weather the economic storm. With continuing difficult economic times ahead, reductions at the state level will reduce the revenue the county has received in past years. It has not been determined what those specific impacts will be on short and long-term budgeting.

Budget requests for 2010 were carefully evaluated to decrease department base-line expenditures without significantly impacting the delivery of county services and programs. In this challenging process, four criteria were guiding principles for developing the recommended budget. The criteria were:

On-going vs. one-time expenses

Advertisement

On-going expenses from year-to-year are more difficult to cut from the annual budget. One-time expenses have the flexibility of being postponed or reduced until additional funding becomes available.

Essential vs. nice to have

Essential programs and services will be among the last items cut or reduced. Non-essential items, services, personnel, etc. may be postponed depending on revenue availability.

Mandated

Many county programs and services are mandated by federal or state law and hence will remain in the proposed 2010 budget.

Availability of grant funding

Federal, state, and local grant funding is an integral contributor to project completion. The county continues to seek additional outside funding for qualified projects.

Montrose County reduced the 2009 approved budget by 9% throughout the year as revenue streams failed to meet estimated projections. The proactive reduction in the approved budget was a great success for the county. This effort was only achieved through aggressive planning by county leadership and departments. Expenditures for 2010 have been reduced a minimum of 3% (from 2009 anticipated expenditures) to address further reductions in local, state, and federal revenue streams.

It is important for all employees, not just the leadership, to consider methods for improving the daily operations of the organization. This is accomplished by utilizing our resources efficiently and effectively, including materials, supplies and employees. We need input, buy-in and understanding from all 400+ employees for the county to succeed as an organization. The BOCC and county management are evaluating methods for restructuring the organization to maximize the effectiveness of our internal resources. Our goal is to maximize the output of county operations, programs and services.

With proactive planning, Montrose County was able to avoid the implementation of employee furlough days for 2009 and currently none are scheduled for 2010. In an effort to continue that trend, the Board of County Commissioners decided not to implement COLA (cost of living allowance) increases for 2010 or performance based awards for employees in 2009 or 2010. Other proactive measures to avoid budget shortfalls include postponement of large capital purchases or projects in the first quarter of 2010 unless mission essential; no new positions for 2010; and the potential delay of filling new or existing vacancies.

The Board of County Commissioners and county staff continue to monitor the receipt of revenue and anticipated expenditures closely and make adjustments as necessary to remain fiscally sound and proactively address changes in revenue streams. It is our hope to achieve the best results in our organization as we continue to serve this great community.

For more information, please visit the County’s website at www.montrosecounty.net or call 249-7755.

Comments