St. Joseph County Leaders Brace for Tough Road Ahead

by Samuel King (king@wsbt.com)

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St. Joseph County Leaders Brace for Tough Road Ahead

County Council members (from left) Heath Weaver, President Rafael Morton and Mark A. Catanzarite listen during a council meeting Tuesday at the County-City Building in South Bend. (Tribune Photo/MARCUS MARTER)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Sep 26, 2007 at 2:41 PM EST

Story Updated: Oct 1, 2007 at 9:35 AM EST

(WSBT) St. Joseph County commissioners approved a balanced budget Wednesday, but that doesn't mean the county's financial squeeze is over. Rising health care costs are among the factors that could make next year's situation even worse.

More than two dozen employees will be laid off, dozens more vacant positions won't be filled, and most of the county's 1,100 employees won't be getting raises. But county leaders say more layoffs may be on the way for next year, and that could have a major impact on county services.

“We are in real trouble, there's no question about it,” said Steve Ross, president of the Board of Commissioners. “When our costs go up and yet our income stays flat, you have to give up something.”

He also blames the state for issuing mandates and not funding them.

“That's like a parent saying, 'Here's your allowance, and now you have to go forth and pay our electric bills, our gas bills and our water bills,'" Ross said. "That's not good government."

The department that saw the biggest cut this year was the county police.

"The bottom line is we're losing 15 positions — eight merit officers, who are patrol officers, three special deputies, one school patrol officer, and three dispatchers," said Sheriff Frank Canarecci.

His office and many others may face even more layoffs next year. The prosecutor's office was spared big cuts this year, but next year it might be a different story.

“They're seriously going to cause a problem to our community for public safety, if their system or method of resolving is to reduce the amount of money being spent on public safety,” said Prosecutor Michael Dvorak.

Commissioner Ross acknowledges there will be some impact on the court system.

“In L.A., a prisoner gets arrested and it takes six months for their case to come up. You may start to see that kind of situation here, where the case calendar gets longer and longer, and longer, because we can't prosecute or we can't publicly defend somebody,” Ross said. “Not acceptable, but if the budget continues in its current form, it's inevitable.”

County leaders will meet with the sheriff to make some adjustments to the his budget, while keeping the bottom line the same. They have also promised to meet with the heads of county departments monthly to discuss the budget, so no one is caught off guard next year. Wednesday's vote was not unanimous. Commissioner Mark Dobson voted against the budget, but declined to say why.

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