51黑料

The cuts could delay a newly approved senior property tax freeze, reduce public health services, slow road work and lead to layoffs, County Executive Sam Page warned. One county department head said the cuts would 鈥渟everely hinder鈥� services.

鈥淭he last week since these cuts were announced has been demoralizing,鈥� said Public Administrator Timothy Weaks, whose office handles the affairs of some of society鈥檚 most neglected people.

But Council Chair Shalonda Webb, who proposed the cuts, said departments could come back to the council next spring if they need more money.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no way you can run out of money the first quarter,鈥� Webb, a Democrat from unincorporated North County, said at the council meeting Tuesday. 鈥淎nd then in the second quarter we can have some of those conversations about supplement bills. That鈥檚 fair, everybody.鈥�

Weaks said he was heartened the council could restore the cuts. The cuts to his office 鈥� $105,000, or 10% of his budget 鈥� would force him to take fewer cases and serve fewer people. The public administrator鈥檚 10-person staff has more than 700 cases, including children who 鈥渁ge out鈥� of state custody and elderly people who have no family.

Page said county leaders will decide how to make the cuts over the next few months. They may ask for extra money from the council but will also look for any unexpected revenue.

鈥淚n the end, we need to match revenues with expenditures and make some tough decisions,鈥� Page said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

But Republican Councilman Mark Harder of Ballwin called Page鈥檚 warnings 鈥渇ear-mongering鈥� on Tuesday.

The cuts are modest, Harder said, amounting to about 2% of the overall budget. Yet they begin to reverse a trend of overspending that would deplete the county鈥檚 savings within the next few years, he said.

Page disagreed.

鈥淲ith this level of cuts, we simply cannot do everything we are doing now,鈥� Page said in a statement. 鈥淲e are in this together and I look forward to working with the council to find sustainable, new revenue streams.鈥�

Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, a Democrat from Maplewood, was the only councilmember to vote against the cuts. She called them short-sighted.

鈥淲e haven鈥檛 taken the time to understand the department budgets and the consequences of slashing those budgets,鈥� Clancy said. 鈥淲e have not taken the time to put human faces on these cuts or to consider how those cuts will affect our communities.鈥�

County budget Director Paul Kreidler said departments have until January 1 to identify specific positions, programs or projects to cut. But many staffers will be gone for the holidays, and it won鈥檛 give departments much time to make thoughtful decisions.

Alternatively, departments could put a placeholder in their budgets and then make the cuts as they figure them out, Kreidler said.

鈥淭hat would give us a little more time to figure out how we want to accomplish the reductions,鈥� he said.

Republican Councilman Dennis Hancock of Fenton said the council considered what departments actually spend in a year when deciding what the cuts would be. They won鈥檛 make the impact Page says they will, Hancock said.

鈥淭o say that we are proposing to cut spending is factually incorrect,鈥� Hancock said. 鈥淲e just aren鈥檛 increasing it as much as the county executive wants us to.鈥�

But Kreidler said he had included end-of-year savings into the projected deficit, and the cuts will indeed have an impact.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e cutting appropriations significant enough to fix our problem, then services will be cut and services will be eliminated,鈥� he said.

The county executive outlined the possible effects of the cuts in his letter last week:

A $2.1 million cut to public works affects road work, including clearing snow, and could reduce the county鈥檚 ability to clear dumping in vacant lots and to maintain abandoned homes.

A $570,000 cut to the County Counselor鈥檚 office would mean a smaller team to work on legal issues surrounding those problem properties.

A $905,000 cut in the revenue department means eliminating employees who work on vacant properties.

The revenue department might have to stop mailing out tax bills, a service that costs more than $577,000 annually. Residents would have to find their bills online or request them by phone.

In the public health department, an $8.2 million cut will impact services.

In the county administration department, a $1.6 million cut could affect cybersecurity initiatives.

Parks projects could be delayed because of an $800,000 cut.

At Tuesday鈥檚 meeting, the council also rejected Page鈥檚 proposal to increase property taxes.

Page had recommended a bump of about 4 cents per $100 in assessed value. For the average home in 51黑料 County, worth about $299,000 in market value or $56,700 in assessed value, the annual tax bill would have gone up by about $22.