Commissioners weigh revenue, cuts and park funding after budget retreat

County finance staff on Monday summarized ideas generated at a June 23 budget retreat designed to reduce general-fund expenditures and identify new revenue sources, and commissioners asked staff to research feasibility before committing reserves.

Kathy Funk Baxter, the county finance director, told the Board of County Commissioners that retreat participants produced roughly five pages of suggestions but that none of the items had been researched for feasibility. “None of the items were researched, as far as feasibility,” Baxter said, adding that some proposals could affect collective-bargaining agreements and would require further study.

The retreat identified a set of options including asking departments to negotiate vendor prompt-payment discounts, reviewing facilities billings, updating district court billing rates and shifting certain costs to dedicated revenue sources. Baxter said one example discussed was vendor prompt-payment discounts: “I think it was a 2%…