Lane Co. expects layoffs as timber payments drop

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The approaching end of federal timber subsidies has Lane County government preparing itself for layoffs and closing empty positions.

More than 80 positions in the sheriff’s office are expected to be eliminated, along with a still-to-be-determined number in the rest of county government.

The Eugene Register-Guard reports (http://bit.ly/Aorebq ) the positions of 24 sworn officers will be eliminated in the sheriff’s office.

That will leave six deputies, two sergeants and a lieutenant as the entire patrol force for the whole county.

The sheriff’s office also will reduce jail capacity by 131 beds, from the current 351.

The county is wrestling with the loss of a federal program that began in 2008 as a way to replace revenue that counties used to get from the sale of timber on government land.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com