Insiders criticize items not on table as budget cuts loom
In Clark County’s government, feast and famine sometimes seem to sit side by side.
In the county courthouse, office workers are cutting supply costs by taping their names to 16-cent ballpoint pens.
But county commissioners haven’t considered lowering the $400-a-month car allowance they give themselves and other top officials, or ending the rule that lets commissioners claim 55-cent mileage reimbursements on top of that payment.
This week is crunch time for the latest, deepest round of county budget cuts, which Sheriff Garry Lucas called “inherently flawed” in a public hearing Monday.
Lucas and Prosecuting Attorney Art Curtis suggested Monday that if the county drew its budget from scratch rather than basing it on the previous year’s spending, “public safety” would be first priority.
“We like our parks, but we like our public safety more,” Curtis said.
Even as commissioners take shots for the budget process they supervise, some county managers say they’re unconvinced that all possible cuts are on the table.
Here’s a look at five of the items — droplets in the county’s $112 million general fund — that have drawn criticism from county insiders but haven’t yet been debated as possible cuts.
n Car allowance for top officials, $57,600 in 2010:
The county’s nine elected executives, plus a few top appointees such as County Administrator Bill Barron and Undersheriff Joe Dunegan, each get $4,800 a year to help with car expenses.
In addition, commissioners can claim the IRS reimbursement rate for all miles traveled on the job.
Barron said Monday that the payments are needed to attract the best people to top jobs.
Even elected officials need good benefits, Barron said — it affects “the quality of the people that would apply.”
n Retirement bonus for senior managers, $82,722 in 2010:
A perk for the county’s 23 top managers: 2.5 percent of their salaries, added to their retirement balance each year.
Unlike other retirement benefits, it’s not mandated by the state. But because budget experts are predicting a five-year slump, commissioners fear long-term benefit cuts would prompt a staff exodus.
“It’s part of the benefit package for (top managers) that make employment here more attractive,” Barron said.
n Deputy county administrator, $27,389 in 2010:
In 2007, with construction taxes still pouring in and the county creating dozens of new positions, commissioners promoted Budget and Information Services Director Glenn Olson to a new job: Deputy County Administrator. Olson’s two top managers got promotions, too.
Olson oversees five departments, including computers, payrolls and facilities.
Barron said Olson’s position replaces three “deputy county administrator” positions eliminated when he came to the county in 1999.
But multiple executives were needed to run “a multimillion-dollar company with significant issues,” Barron said, referring to the county. So Olson was promoted.
“I don’t know everything,” Barron said. “Glenn brings a dimension that I don’t have.”
n Human resources growth, more than $322,800 in 2010:
Though county employment is expected to return to its 2001 size next year, its human resources team will have added 4.5 positions since then, a 38 percent increase.
Annual cost: $322,800 for the salaries of those five alone.
County human resources manager Kathy Meyers said the new staff include one benefits specialist, two employee relations representatives, a diversity coordinator and a secretary.
Labor rules keep getting more complicated, she said. Jail commanders and prosecuting attorneys have formed new bargaining units.
New hires aren’t the only source of work for human resources, she said. Layoffs are, too.
n Take-home cars for deputies, cost or savings unknown:
As anyone who lives near a Clark County street deputy knows, each gets a car of his or her own to take home and use for work purposes.
That’s not the case at some other departments, such as Vancouver’s. And it’s difficult to estimate the cost, because the extra miles driven by deputies on the way to work are offset by reduced garage costs and better vehicle care.
Lucas’s office hasn’t run the numbers. Instead, it’s used a study from the City of Tacoma, which estimated that take-home cars saved the police department $1.5 million annually in 2004.
Take-home vehicles were introduced for deputies in the 1980s after a county auditor said it would save cash, Lucas said.
“People take better care of their cars when it’s their personal responsibility,” he said.
Michael Andersen: 360-735-4508 or michael.andersen@columbian.com.
