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County Administrator Joe Mareane Monday presented a plan to the County’s Budget and Capital Committee intended to address cuts in State aid enacted as a part of the 2011-12 State Budget.

The County now estimates the 2011 impact of State cuts at $755,000, down slightly from earlier estimates as the result of new information about the timing of aid reductions and specific program-by-program analyses.

Mareane’s plan  combines program reductions, freezing savings already achieved in the County budget, and managing natural workforce attrition for the balance of the year.

Committee members were advised that  over $240,000 has already been saved by holding positions vacant over the first four months of the year and that early projections indicate savings of $100,000 in the County Health Department’s PreK Special Education program.   Those savings will be used to offset a portion of the State cuts.

Savings will also result from program adjustment in several areas, including $46,500 in cuts to several youth services programs that were specifically targeted for reduction in the State budget.

Finally, Mareane outlined a workforce attrition management plan that would ensure that nine positions (1.3% of the County’s workforce) be kept vacant throughout the year, saving an estimated $394,000 from May through December.  The “rolling freeze” would allow positions to be filled, but only when the total number of vacant County positions rose to 10 or more.

Committee members were advised that additional impacts may result from specific allocation formulas that determine funding for several programs administered by the County’s Department of Social Services, and that the Committee will be continue to be briefed on a regular basis to identify and address any such additional impacts.

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