27 jobs in jeopardy in Lewis

Budget: County working on specifics

ERIC SCHWARTZ; The Chronicle (Centralia) | • Published November 07, 2009

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Lewis County officials were able to largely escape layoffs while making budget cuts in 2008-09, but they warn that they won’t be so lucky in 2010.

The county is operating with an estimated $3.5 million deficit. A preliminary 2010 budget calls for a 4.6 percent reduction in staff, the equivalent of 27 full-time jobs.

The document, at www.lewis countywa.gov, is not final. A public hearing in the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the Lewis County Courthouse is set for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 23. A second public meeting will be held before the commissioners’ vote on the budget at 10 a.m. Dec. 7.

The proposed reduction in staff would include freezing several open positions and potentially implementing mandatory furloughs, depending on ongoing negotiations with unions. Other employees would be laid off. The expense budget will shrink from $10.5 million to $8.3 million, and the overall county budget will drop from $57 million to $48 million.

In the Prosecutor’s Office, the reduction would mean the loss of one deputy prosecutor, two paralegals and an office assistant. The Sheriff’s Office would lose one deputy, one detective and one administrative assistant, according to the preliminary document.

Some positions were removed from the payroll for other reasons, including nine senior services positions that are expected to be contracted to a private company.

Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden said the cuts have been difficult, but that they are necessary.

“Until the economy comes around, there is no basis for anyone to complain,” he said.