Commissioners Order Freeze On New Spending Precarious County Finances Blamed For 60-Day Moratorium

Don’t come begging Spokane County commissioners for spare cash.

They don’t have any. And what little reserve they do have, they’re keeping.

Commissioners agreed Tuesday morning to put a 60-day moratorium on new spending of any kind. That means no hiring or buying for two months while the county figures out where it sits financially.

“We don’t know our financial picture,” said Commissioner Steve Hasson. “It keeps changing week to week in more of a negative sense. We need more time.”

The moratorium won’t affect money already allocated to the county’s 35 departments for their 1995 budgets. It means that new requests for money or hiring to fill new or vacant positions won’t be considered.

“They can’t even ask,” said Jim Lindow, the county’s chief administrative officer. “Any existing requests will be considered, but nothing else.”

The county’s reserve fund sits somewhere around $517,000 - less than 1 percent of its $81 million general fund budget. A healthy reserve would be between $2.5 million and $4 million, financial advisers say.

“That’s $500,000 for the rest of the year,” Lindow said with a grimace. “Our fund balance is being depleted.”

Sliding sales tax revenues, higher jail costs and problems with property tax valuations raise more questions about the county’s financial health.

“We have to do something to affect the immediacy of the financial crisis,” Lindow said. “And there is a financial crisis.”

In hopes of saving money, the county is eliminating 81 jobs - most of them unfilled but still on the books. That savings won’t be felt until next year.

Two money requests already being considered would wipe out the county’s $500,000 reserve fund.

Sheriff John Goldman on Tuesday asked commissioners for $780,000 to cover rising overtime and other costs for the rest of 1995.

That’s a revised request. Last week, Goldman asked for $1.1 million. After reviewing the numbers, he said his department might make it - but barely - on a scaled-back amount.

“We’re going to implement some strategies to slow down,” Goldman said. “It will be something that has to be monitored each month.”

The sheriff plans to come back next week after reviewing the numbers one more time.

“I’m Mr. Get Tough on Crime,” said Commissioner Phil Harris. “But I have to be able to explain this to people.”

Tom Davis, the director of Juvenile Justice Services, is asking for $190,000 for a daytime lockup program. His request is still being considered, but a decision planned for Tuesday was delayed one week.

Despite the county’s money woes, commissioners still plan to take delivery of $20,000 in new office equipment.

The commissioners planned a $37,000 remodeling of their office, but have delayed the plan in light of budget problems.

They already spent $900 on the equipment, and would lose the money if they canceled the order, they reasoned.

, DataTimes