Today was the innaugural “commissioners’ corner” editorial in the Ravalli Republic.
Ravalli County commissioners will be taking turns writing a column every other week and Ron Stoltz kicked things off today with this editorial that focuses on this year’s budget process.
The freshman commissioner – one of three on the board – cites an article from the National Association of Counties entitled, “Survey: Budget shortfalls persist among counties”.
Stoltz mentions that the number of county employees has risen at twice the rate as the general population of the county as a justification for the cuts. However, he continues:
“That fact is no consolation to county employees who lost their jobs this last year and we sympathize with them, as well as the many, many families who have struggled through these last four years in the Bitterroot. Many of our friends and extended family members have been forced to move on to larger markets in order to make a living.”
Stoltz also defended the commissioners’ choice of plumping up what he deems critically low reserve funds – something the commissioners have adamantly defended throughout the entire budget process. The county has nine buildings worth millions of dollars, Stoltz said, and capital reserve funds need to be in place to maintain those.
“This doesn’t even consider things such as police cars and copiers. So this year, the commissioners started to save for facility costs which we know are on the horizon somewhere near the point in time when interest rates will no longer hover just above zero.”
As part of budget cuts, the county’s juvenile detention center was closed and the county signed contracts with facilities in Missoula and Galen to house the Bitterroot’s juvenile offenders. Stoltz wrapped up his column by also defending this move.
“By working toward a “functional merger” with Missoula County, the juvenile detention budget is currently on track to save half a million dollars over the next three years. By looking to the future and planning before in these bad economic times, the goal is to save jobs, make the county more fiscally responsible and efficient with less revenue.”
I will be very curious to read the topics each individual commissioner chooses to focus on with their respective columns. If I had to place bets, I’d say wolves or coordination will be gracing the “commissioners’ corner” here pretty soon.
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Politics in the 'Root 