County Cuts Charitable Grants, Eliminates Furloughs

St. Charles County's 2011 budget will not include employee furloughs, but it does include slashed Community Assistance Board funds, which includes the assistance for the homeless and needy families.

The County Council approved the $288-million budget with a 6-1 vote Monday night. Outgoing Councilwoman Cheryl Hibbeler, D-District 1, of O'Fallon, voted against the budget due to her objections regarding cuts in grants to charitable organizations that helps homeless people and less fortunate residents.

 "I have heartache over a budget that zeroes out some of these items," Hibbeler said.

In 2010, five agencies received $50,000 in funding from the county: Mid-East Area Council on Aging, the Community Council, the Arts Council, the County Fair and the St. Charles County Historical Society. In 2011, the five agencies will receive no county funds.

Hibbeler also said the 2011 grants for the Community Assistance Board is just 10 percent of what it was three years ago, and listed the figures for the last several years:

• 2011 - $40,000
• 2010 - $270,000
• 2009 - $340,000
• 2008 - $400,000

The funds are distributed among social service agencies -- including Youth in Need, Catholic Charities, the Crider Center and Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Center -- that provide services for low-income families.

Budget cuts were necessary due to continuing slumps in revenue from building permits and recorder fees, both related to the home building industry woes, said Debbie Salvo, assistant finance director. They also project a 1.5 percent increase in sales tax, but that is more than offset by increased costs for health insurance and the employee retirement program, LAGERS.

Councilman Joe Brazil, R-District 2, of Defiance, noted county employees have not had a raise for three years, and that has greater priority than the charitable grants.

"I'm going to focus on security, infrastructure and our employees first," Brazil said. "Until we can give them the pay raise they deserve, I can't support things that aren't priorities for us."

Councilman Paul Wynn, R-District 4, of O'Fallon, said he was a staunch supporter reducing the grants to social service agencies to zero.

"I'm not doing it out of spite," Wynn said.

He said it is not government's role to help the poor, but that is the job of religious groups, charities and civic groups.

County Executive Steve Ehlmann said the county would be able to avoid requiring furloughs -- or mandatory unpaid leave -- for county employees. The city did require each employee to take a week's furlough in 2010.

Ehlmann said they were able to avoid furloughs by asking all elected officials to use their discretionary funds to help avoid furloughs. Discretionary funds only can be used as the elected officials' desire to use them.

"For some, whose departments are smaller, that might have only been $10,000," Ehlmann said. "For others, like the Sheriff's Department, that was about $200,000."

The discretionary funds amounted to about $300,000, Salvo said. County officials also saved $460,000 by agreeing not to hold a special countywide election on a smoking ban.

"Instead, we'll hold off on that until we have other elections on the ballot, so it essentially will cost us nothing," Ehlmann said.

He said those measures got the county close enough to use $340,000 from its reserve fund to balance the 2011 budget.

 "It's been a tough year economically, and hopefully next year our philosophical discussions will be on what to include in the budget instead of what to cut," Ehlmann told the council.