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Natrona County commissioners identify $5 million budget gap, agree preliminary cuts and placeholders
Summary
Commissioners reviewed department requests and agreed to a set of preliminary reductions and placeholders after the clerk reported the county's proposed budgets were about $5 million above projected revenues; follow‑ups were directed on Cornerstone's juvenile contract, intercom/joint‑powers funding and several capital items.
The New Toronto County Commission on June 17 reviewed department budget requests and directed staff to pare back discretionary items after the clerk reported the county was roughly $5 million over projected revenues.
The meeting began with the commissioner's controlled account, where the clerk recommended maintaining office supplies at $5,500 and commissioners agreed to reduce travel line items to a $7,500 placeholder for the coming fiscal year as a belt‑tightening measure. “Let's do 7,500, madam clerk,” the Chair said when the commission settled that figure.
The clerk later ran totals for the full budget and the Chair told the room: “So we are 5,000,000 Over.” Commissioners accepted a working revenue estimate of about $52,000,007.55 while staff was asked to clarify reimbursable project funding (including possible FEMA and tribal grant offsets) before final adoption.
To begin closing the shortfall, commissioners approved a slate of targeted reductions and placeholders across departments: reduced allocations for historic preservation authorship (from $6,900 to $4,500), lowered select capital requests at the fair and parks, reduced some equipment and travel placeholders, and held certain line items flat pending follow‑up. Several program‑level decisions were framed as temporary placeholders to allow time for staff to check contracts, invoices and grant reimbursements.
The commission repeatedly distinguished between discussion-only items and formal action. For example, the board left the Guardians ad Litem (GAL) lease number at $25,000 for now and directed legal staff to negotiate the lease expiration and options for relocating GAL into county space if appropriate.
Chair and commissioners also directed follow-up research on a set of high‑cost or ambiguous items before making final cuts, including: (1) whether portions of some projects are FEMA‑reimbursable; (2) detailed invoices supporting professional services spikes; and (3) confirmation of which joint‑powers funds would cover Hall of Justice intercom work. The meeting recessed for an executive session and later reconvened to adjourn.
Next steps: staff will return with clarifying documentation on reimbursable grants and contracts, a list of projects proposed for one‑cent reserve funding, and updated fiscal totals so the commission can translate the preliminary reductions into a balanced proposed budget for the next public hearing.
