In an attempt to cut budgets without slashing services, Freeborn County department heads Tuesday proposed altering a citizen committee’s recommendations, which were based on a 4 percent cut across all county departments.

By cutting or delaying capital projects, cutting the county watershed management program, eliminating contributions to organizations like the museum and Greater Jobs, Inc., and putting off filling several jobs, the county managers said, the county can cut $1.3 million from next year’s budget, but keep the impact on residents minimal.

&uot;This is a lot easier for us to keep providing, and continuing our day-to-day work,&uot; said Tom Jensen, the county’s court administrator. Jensen, along with Highway Engineer Sue Miller, presented a page of recommendations on behalf of 13 department heads, who met Monday to craft the plan.

The managers said they based much of their work on the ideas from the ad-hoc citizen committee, which gave its recommendations to the board earlier this month. That group called for budget cuts based on a 4 percent reduction for all departments, with some, like the sheriff, public health and administration, taking deeper cuts.

The budget committee left it up to department heads to decide what specific cuts to make. The plan presented Tuesday provided those specifics but distributed the cuts differently across departments. The department heads said cutting across the board would have a disproportionate effect on the smaller departments and said they had ideas for more targeted budget cutting.

The plan includes:

-Capital-improvement cuts amounting to $430,000. Flood-control measures and buildings improvements at the county fairgrounds would have to wait, computer and furniture purchases would be cut, and planned auto purchases would be put on hold. The plan also includes a cut $110,000 off the of the cost of the courthouse project.

-Program cuts totaling $592,000. The largest chunk, $302,000, would come from the end of the county’s watershed management program. The county implemented that program as a response to a state agency’s effort to establish an independent watershed board, at the prompting of a citizen group. The county was given the chance to handle watershed improvements itself, rather than have it done by an appointed board outside the county’s control. But, under budget pressure, the county may concede the fight.

&uot;It seems like this is almost, I hate to say, a foregone conclusion,&uot; Miller said of the watershed budget.

County Administrator Ron Gabrielsen said a representative of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is trying to schedule one last meeting to get input from the county, city and citizen group before making a recommendation on whether the agency should establish the independent watershed board, which would have taxing power.

Commissioner Dan Belshan wasn’t sold on the idea of planning to cut the watershed budget until all the facts are in, however.

&uot;I just wonder if this is premature,&uot; he said. Funding from the Army Corps of Engineers, which the county hopes could help with watershed projects, may be forthcoming, but it may only be offered if the county government were involved in the effort, Belshan said.

The Extension program would also see deep cuts, though the department head plan leaves substantially more than the ad hoc committee had. The previous recommendation was to cut the budget to $30,000, with the intent of keeping only the 4-H program intact, but employees said that wouldn’t be enough to keep the program going. The plan presented Tuesday would preserve just over $100,000 for Extension while saving a projected $60,000.

Other program cuts would include $90,000 in park-improvement delays; $56,585 saved by eliminating the global-information systems (GIS) program; and elimination or reduction of county contributions to the Freeborn County Historical Museum ($5,000), the county fair ($5,000), Greater Jobs Inc. ($10,000) and the Southern Minnesota Tourism Association ($1,000).

They also proposed eliminating the position of county coroner, instead saving a smaller budget to be drawn upon to hire an outside medical examiner when the need arises. That would save an estimated $12,425, the department heads said.

-Personnel cuts worth $278,000. Two positions &045; a half-time department of human services job and a data processing positions &045; would be eliminated, and nine other vacant jobs would not be immediately filled.

Sheriff Mark Harig, however, said not filling open investigator and jailer jobs would result in more overtime costs.

The board, meeting in a special session, did not take action on the proposals, but members thanked the department heads for taking the initiative and said the proposal would be factored into the final budget decision. The county is also waiting on more news from St. Paul on how much state funding will be cut in response to Minnesota’s budget deficit, Gabrielsen said.

&uot;One thing that’s came out of the last couple of days: It’s clear that we’re going to do this together,&uot; Jensen said. &uot;We’re not going to fight with one another.&uot;