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News Local News County, state unite to contain financial crisis
| County, state unite to contain financial crisis |
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| Written by Valliant Corley, Pilot staff writer | |
| November 02, 2011 02:44 am | |
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GOLD BEACH - Organizers for Oregon Consensus at Portland State University are expected to be in Curry County soon to help county commissioners form a Citizens’ Committee to help the county find ways to head off the financial crisis forecast for the coming year. “They have already given us a verbal commitment. They are working on an agreement,” Commissioner Bill Waddle said Tuesday.
“We’ve got to get this done. We’ve got to get this committee formed,” Waddle said. “If we can get it formed in late November, we have an opportunity to meet in December. They will have time to do some research and make recommendation for budget issues early in 2012.” Commissioners recently approved an order forming the committee to come up with a solution to the financial crisis the county will face when Secure Rural Schools funding ends in November, when the county is to receive $1,079,053. “The purpose of the committee is to identify and explore all viable revenue and expenditure opportunities to achieve fiscal solvency and stability for Curry County government now and in the future,” the order says. Oregon Consensus will help manage the citizens committee, which will have at least 12 members to be made up of a cross-section of interested people from various geographical parts of the county representing different economic backgrounds. “The latest information from (County Accountant) Gary Short is we’re going to be looking at cutting $2 million out of next year’s budget,” Waddle said. He said commissioners expect the committee to recommend some kind of tax increase. “We’ve got to get some kind of levy on the ballot. It has to be in March to be on the ballot in May,” Waddle said. “We will have a series of budget workshops,” he said. “We will have two budgets. One will be if the levy is approved, the other if it is not.” Meanwhile, the commissioners, the sheriff, district attorney and juvenile director plan to meet with city councils of Brookings, Port Orford and Gold Beach to discuss the county budget, with primary focus on public safety. The commissioners are scheduled to meet with the Port Orford City Council at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and a meeting with the Brookings City Council has been scheduled for 4 p.m. December 14. No meeting had yet been scheduled with Gold Beach officials as of Tuesday. Waddle said the Sheriff’s Department may now be facing the emergency that the sheriff says would break his budget. “We have no heat in one portion of the jail,” Waddle said. “We are now trying to determine what we will do to get it fixed.” Waddle said Sheriff John Bishop keeps talking about the one emergency that would throw his budget out of kilter. “This very well may be that,” Waddle said.
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