Kittitas County Sheriff's Office Could Take Grunt Of Budget Cuts

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Story Published: Nov 20, 2009 at 6:26 PM PST

By Sade Malloy

KITTITAS COUNTY -- They're struggling to balance the budget in Kittitas County. They have a more than $3 million deficit that they're trying to bring back to zero. Major budget cuts are on the way Action News went digging to find out who's being hit the hardest.

Balancing a budget that has a $3.7 million shortfall has Kittitas County Commissioners and 32 of their departments doing some major adjustments.

"We tried to do the best we can so we don't have to layoff people but still provide customer service," says Jerry Pettit, Kittitas County Auditor.

In a three-and-half-hour meeting earlier in the week, the deficit was knocked down to $695,000. On the list of departments volunteering a reduction in funds is community development, the County Assessor and the library advisory board. But at the top of the list is the Kittitas Sheriff's Office with a more than $430,000 cut.

"We took out those areas that we could hold off without jeopardizing public safety training, travel, replacement of equipment," says Sheriff Gene Dana, Kittitas County Sheriff.

While these budget reductions are on table for consideration, nothing is set in stone yet. Remember they still have around $700,000 to account for, so to get the deficit to zero the county is talking about furloughs and a wage freeze.

"There's still a difference that the commissioners have to make and we're kinda waiting on pins and needles to see what direction they go," says Sheriff Dana.

"Being fiscally responsible is important to us to assure we can still operate," says Pettit.

The county admits the next step in the process is going to be critical because if they don't figure something out quick they might have to dip into their savings. The goal is to balance the budget without losing personnel all while maintaining the safety and services locals expect.

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