SOUTH BEND — Drastic cuts could be on the way as St. Joseph County leaders try to balance next year's budget. They're considering every option available, from layoffs to closings and even a four-day work week.

Preliminary estimates show the county could face a deficit of around $7.5 million in next year's budget, but final deficit figures won't be known until after July 1.

Even so, county council members met Tuesday night to begin talking about where cuts could potentially be made, and so far, it appears nothing is off the table.

When county leaders began the tough task of balancing last year's budget, it was clear, they had a tough task ahead. Preliminary numbers showed a projected deficit as high as $8.6 million. That adds up to nearly 20 percent of the county's total budget.

By asking departments across county government to cut between one and four percent from their budgets, and by pushing half of the eventual $3.5 million deficit until this year, they were able to turn in a bare bones, but balanced budget on time.

County leaders say this year's outlook may be much worse.

"We'll be approximately $7.5 million short of revenue for next year's budget," said St. Joseph County Auditor Peter Mullen. "This is five times worse. Seven times worse, even."

"Saying this year is worse is a gross understatement," added St. Joseph County Council President Rafael Morton. "This is a devastating situation. It's basically impossible to deal with by just asking departments to cut alone."

The reasons are varied. Before even factoring in lost revenue streams, the county already faces the $1.7 million deficit carried over from last year. The county will also lose interest payments because of a new state law that requires revenue distributed to schools and welfare agencies to be exclusively handled by the state.

In the past, counties distributed that funding, and collected interest payments while doing so. Last year in St. Joseph County that interest added up to more than $2 million.

Add to that a projected shortfall between $5 million and $6.5 million in lost property tax revenue following the passage Indiana's property tax caps four months ago, and some county leaders are worried the process of balancing next year's budget will be especially painful.

House Enrolled Act 1001 takes effect on July 1, capping property taxes at one percent for homeowner, two percent for rental properties, and three percent for commercial properties and businesses.

In St. Joseph and Lake counties, homeowners' caps will be about 0.2 percent higher because of increased county, municipal, and school corporation debt loads.

That's left the county with few other solutions than to begin examining where cuts can be made. Layoffs and budget cuts are inevitable, said Mullen.

"85 percent of our budget is in personnel. So, if it has to be personnel, it has to be personnel," he said.

"There's no department that will, or can be exempt," said Morton.

That includes public safety departments, like the County Police Department and Prosecutor's Office, though Morton said special care will be taken not to take officers off the street. Public safety accounts for approximately 75 percent of the county's total expenditures, he said.

Other solutions include closing some county parks during certain hours, or closing them altogether. Mullen's office has also suggested moving the county to a four day work week, where employees would work 10 hours a day, Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday. County offices would be closed on either Fridays or Mondays.

Some county employees WSBT spoke with said it sounds like a promising plan.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," said St. Joseph County Adult Probation Officer Joanna Wilkins. "I'd like to get my workweek over early. [And I think it would save money,] absolutely."

But others worry a four day work week could cause problems.

"A lot of people get paid on Fridays, then pay their bills on Friday," said South Bend resident Charlene Anthony. "For some people that probably would be difficult. But, if it would save the county money and not increase our taxes, then it's at least a solution."

Mullen isn't so sure it's a realistic one, because the savings wouldn't even make a dent in the deficit.

"I doubt a four day work week would even save us $100,000," he said. "City government takes up most of [the County-City] building, and it wouldn't save us that much on energy."

Even so, Mullen admits the county could save on additional fuel costs under the plan, and, combined with other solutions, it could work.

"Everything is on the table," he said.

That includes increasing revenue by raising the county's local option income tax to a full one percent. But to do that, both South Bend and Mishawaka's Common Councils would have to sign off on the tax hike too, and some believe that's unlikely.

That's left county leaders facing little other choice than to move forward with plans to begin slashing budgets. Their motto now: cut where you can to keep who you can, and hope some new solution surfaces at the statehouse soon.

"Unless major changes are made down state, then we will be looking at a totally different St. Joe County," said Morton.

County leaders will begin meeting with department heads next week to talk over preliminary budget cuts. They plan to introduce the final budget bill for a first reading on August 23. A public hearing will be held on September 9, with a final vote tentatively set for September 23.