County looks at ‘shotgun shell’ budget approaches

Babitz, former Hood River mayor, has been in early talks with county leaders about shoring up financial data and helping to form community discussion groups as the county faces a roughly $1.4 million budget hole and additional financial uncertainty in the future.

The county considered putting a 2 percent sales tax on the May election ballot, but following public criticism, the board cancelled that plan.

Babitz told the board, “What you need to be able to do, in my opinion, moving forward is communicate to the public that you’ve done the groundwork to identify two different scenarios. One is what does the future of the county look like, sustainably, without revenue sources, and then what level of revenue sources are necessary to maintain the revenue sources.”

He compared the approach to the city and library, both of which had financial struggles that leveled out after a process that combined different restructuring elements with revenue asks. To get the city on a sustainable path, there was a combination of reductions in staff, service level changes, and a gas tax, Babitz said.

Budget cuts are on the line as the county enters deliberations this week on its budget for July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019; the budget committee has its first meeting Thursday. The draft budget is posted online at Hood River County’s website, under the Department of Finance tab.

Department heads from various county departments attended Monday’s work session.

Sandi Borowy, finance director, said long-term planning has gone on for years, but the issue was pushed off until it reached a critical point.

“It’s time to stop talking and do something, whether it’s a year’s levy to get us through, or a 5-year levy, or a 10-year levy, whatever, let’s do something, folks,” she said.

Borowy said 10 staff positions “are on the line so far.”

The county didn’t settle on a particular levy or tax ask at Monday’s meeting.

One concept that came up in an initial form was a public safety district. Sheriff Matt English said financial details aren’t ready for the levy, but they will become clearer via the budget process.

Chair Ron Rivers explained after the work session that the public safety district would resemble in some ways a fire district. He said the public safety district concept has worked well elsewhere in Oregon.

Commissioners encouraged the idea of scheduling public forums instead of just traditional meetings, so they can discuss issues with the public one-on-one in a dialogue format.

According to a budget timeline, hearings and adoption of the financial package take place in June.