Salt Lake County cutting more from budget

A new round of Salt Lake County budget downsizing — to the tune of $5 million — proposed by Mayor Peter Corroon was scheduled to be presented at Tuesday's county council meeting but was delayed for a week after a power outage darkened offices at county headquarters.

Corroon hosted a media sit-down before the lights went out, and offered some detail on the latest efforts to balance shrinking revenues with the price of keeping county government operating. Corroon noted that cost-cutting efforts continue to be the result of careful evaluation and precise implementation and, thus far, are keeping the books in the black.

"Our plan is working, our budget is balanced, but we still have more work to do," Corroon said. "We'll continue to use a scalpel, not a meat cleaver to balance the budget, which means we'll have thoughtful, researched and deliberate fiscal restraint."

Those efforts began last fall in constructing a 2009 annual budget that achieved $12 million in savings during the previous year, and continued this spring in a round of cuts that further reduced expenses by more than $17 million.

The brunt of the latest cuts will be borne by the municipal services division that will likely see about $2.2 million in funding disappear, with public works taking on about half that figure. Corroon said the cuts would not reduce services now being provided, but would likely put some projects on hold.

"I think there will be delayed services…like filling potholes and overlaying streets," Corroon said. "They won't be cut, but they will be delayed."

Corroon's chief administrative officer, Doug Willmore, said the cuts were precipitated by continuing revenue declines, most notable of which was an interest shift on county investments.

"The…place we've taken a real hit is interest earned," Willmore said. "Having projected maybe a 2.5 percent interest earnings rate in the past, and right now it's down around 0.5 percent…that's rippled through the budget."

That ripple resulted in $9.5 million in earnings that the county will not be seeing.

As for the current trend for revenues collected by the county, outside the realm of property tax, chief financial officer Darrin Casper offered a glimmer of optimism on the fiscal future.

"While a couple of them are negative, overall it's better," Casper said. "But, we did lose a little ground on interest."

Corroon will present his proposal to the council at a rescheduled meeting next Tuesday.

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