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Lake County treasurer urges spending freeze as commissioners weigh options to balance budget
Summary
Treasurer Melanie Lasley told commissioners the county is roughly $217,000 from a balanced budget and suggested a temporary spending freeze and reverting $236,000 in county loan‑program funds to the general fund to avoid personnel cuts.
Treasurer Melanie Lasley urged the Lake County Board of Commissioners on April 9 to declare a temporary spending freeze as part of efforts to close a remaining gap in the fiscal‑year budget. Lasley said department heads have been constraining spending but that the county remained “about $217,000” short of a balanced budget and that one delinquent contract could push the shortfall to more than $500,000.
Lasley told the board she was considering whether to absorb $236,000 of county loan‑program funds back into the general fund as one option to shore up finances; she said the loan program had originally been funded with general fund dollars and is currently administered by the South Central Oregon Economic Development District (SCOEDD). “If that contract doesn’t pay as promised, we could be over $500,000 short,” Lasley said in describing the risk to the budget.
Commissioner James Williams and Vice‑Chair Barry Shullanberger expressed support for clearer guidance on what qualifies for pre‑approval during a spending freeze; Williams said staff should have explicit instructions about which purchases are allowed. Business Director Nicki Alves asked whether travel should be automatically canceled and requested clearer direction on which expenses require prior approval. District Attorney Paul Charas raised whether witness travel covered by his approved budget would require prior permission; commissioners agreed that statutorily required or budgeted witness expenses would be treated as a separate category and would not be blocked.
No formal motion to implement a spending freeze was recorded; the discussion ended with agreement to specify what a freeze would mean and to return with clearer language for department heads. The board had already approved two end‑of‑year budget housekeeping resolutions during the session: Budget Resolution 2024‑09 (adjusting mailing and attorney fees for the Assessor’s Office) and Budget Resolution 2024‑08 (adjusting Clerk salary; no fiscal impact). Both resolutions passed 3–0 earlier in the meeting.
