EUGENE, Ore.– Lane County is tackling its budget for the upcoming fiscal year and is looking to cut back on vacant and part-time positions across the board.
Right now, the proposed budget would remove or phase out about 80 positions from across the county. Many of those are currently vacant or part-time positions that would not significantly impact the departments they are in. A reduction like this is needed because a major portion of county funding comes from the state and federal levels. Lane County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said the current state of federal funding has put their offices on edge, and has them preparing for a lack of it.
“About 60 percent of our revenue comes from our federal government and state government, and about 40 percent of our revenue comes from taxes and fees,” Mokrohisky said. “We’ve had a lot of conversation in the community across the state and across the country about impacts and cuts in budgets. We’ve seen that at the federal level in particular, there’s this effort to sort of lop off pieces of services that people rely on.”
To be the most precise with their cuts, Mokrohisky said they focused on those part time and vacant positions to remove as a means to keep their departments intact. He added that their approach is more universal across the country rather than singling out one particular department…