JPs hear payroll stopgaps offered

Jefferson County is short $120,000

PINE BLUFF -- One by one, Jefferson County elected officials stood before the Quorum Court's Finance Committee on Thursday afternoon, presenting ways their offices could help pay workers' salaries at the end of the month.

Officials have said the treasurer won't be able to pay many county employees July 31 unless enough money is raised to prop up the county general fund. Over the past several weeks, Quorum Court members have discussed cutting salaries and borrowing money that might be available in county departments, but the plan hasn't drawn support.

Initially, county officials said they would not be able to make the July 15 payroll, but the Jefferson County sheriff's office stepped in to help. Sheriff Gerald Robinson said he temporarily removed five of his employees' salaries from the books of the county's general fund and placed them into a public-safety fund instead. This will save $140,000 from the county's general fund through the end of the year, he said.

The county spends $600,000 each month on salaries out of $750,000 allotted for expenses, but tax revenue steadily declined over the past two decades as the county's population has dwindled.

Currently, the county is about $120,000 short of being able to make payroll July 31, according to the treasurer's office. About 160 employees, including elected officials, are paid from the county general fund.

Since 2000, Jefferson County has lost more than 11,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The county's current population is 73,191, according to a 2013 Census estimate. Jefferson County Judge Dutch King said the losses are crippling the budget.

The county will be better off financially once tax collections begin in October and November, officials said, but layoffs will likely be needed to permanently relieve the financial burden.

"Staff reductions are the only way we can make it," said Justice of the Peace Herman Ginger, who chairs the Finance Committee. "Even with the money we can save over the next couple of weeks through the contributions of elected officials' offices, it's very doubtful we can get through the summer."

At Thursday's meeting, King said his office can temporarily take more than $100,000 out of the county's general-fund burden by shifting pay for emergency-management workers to the Road Department fund.

A representative from Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter's office said its contribution would be holding off on hiring a case specialist, which would save roughly $3,000 a month.

Jefferson County Assessor Yvonne Humphrey said she can shift about $6,000 in salaries from the county general fund until the end of the year, and Jefferson County/Circuit Clerk Lafayette Woods said he can transfer $26,000 per month from his cost recorder's fund into the county general fund to help temporarily.

Other elected officials made similar pledges to shift funds or to avoid filling vacant positions. A hiring freeze has been in place for nearly three years, but not every department has been honoring it, King said.

King said he and the Quorum Court will review the proposals presented to them Thursday and present a plan when the body meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

A proposal Ginger introduced several weeks ago to reduce the salaries of employees paid from the county general fund by 20 percent gained little favor among Quorum Court members. Ginger said the plan was simply to "help us get through until we can figure out a permanent solution."

The cuts would potentially save the county $120,000 per month, Ginger said. He added Thursday that even that amount of money would not be a permanent solution.

Justices of the peace voted 8-5 on June 29 to table Ginger's proposed ordinance, and it has since failed to gain any traction.

Under Ginger's proposal, the offices of the Jefferson County treasurer, tax collector and assessor would be exempt from salary cuts because their offices are self-funded. Elected officials' salaries would not be cut because Arkansas Code Annotated 14-14-1203 states that those salaries cannot be changed during the officials' terms.

Meanwhile, frustration is mounting among county workers and elected officials. Circuit Judge Earnest Brown Jr. stood up toward the end of Thursday's meeting and asked the Finance Committee to be more straightforward.

"Just let us know what we need to do. We keep coming to these meetings ... I left my court early today to be here ... but we don't know exactly what we need to do. We need to know the bottom line. Don't sugarcoat it. If we need to make staff cuts, just let us know."

State Desk on 07/10/2015

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