Published: November 17, 2009 04:48 pm      

Beshear paints gloomy budget picture for county officials

Says he won't place gambling on special session agenda

LOUISVILLE — Gov. Steve Beshear conceded to a convention of Kentucky’s county officials Tuesday that another round of state budget cuts is going to be painful and may force some cuts in priority services.

One area dear to county officials’ hearts and local budgets will be spared for now at least. There are no plans for the present to cut the county jail bed allotment, state funding for jail operations separate from the per diem payment the state makes for state inmates housed in county jails.

The state is facing at least a $161 million shortfall in the current year, on top of more than $800 million in cuts from the state budget over the past two years. Last Friday, Beshear asked state agencies to determine how they could absorb another 6 percent cut in funding.

But Kerri Richardson, Beshear’s spokeswoman, said the bed allotment for county jails “is not part of the budget reduction analysis.”

“That’s great,” said Vince Lange, executive director of the County Judge/Executives Association. Earlier, word got out at the 35th annual Kentucky Association of Counties – KACo – convention at the Galt House in Louisville that the allotment might be subject to the cut.

Lang was happy to hear Richardson’s confirmation the bed allotment wasn’t part of the budget reduction at this point. Beshear has repeatedly said he wants to spare corrections, Medicaid, public safety and school funding from state budget cuts.

Beshear hinted, however, that those priorities might not be safe forever.

“You need to understand the size and the speed of the freight train that’s coming at us right now,” Beshear told the KACo audience. It will “force us to pare down rather dramatically our priorities.”

Beshear said the recession has cost Kentucky 100,000 jobs since May 2008 and the recovery is expected to be slow and long. The current two-year budget spends just over $9 billion in the state’s general fund but revenue projections indicate the state will fall about $1.3 billion short of that amount in the next two years. Part of that is due to the reliance on federal stimulus funding in the current budget, money which is due to end next year.

“The next two years will make it extremely difficult to preserve those priorities,” Beshear said.

Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton said county officials aren’t surprised by Beshear’s gloomy budget picture.

“The mood is kind of somber right now,” Eaton said. “They just don’t know what to expect.”

He said county officials recognize the difficulties imposed on the state and county budgets by the economic downturn and they see next year’s elections on the horizon as well, a combination which isn’t ideal for incumbents, Eaton said..

Rowan County Judge/Executive Jim Nickell said Beshear has done a “pretty good job considering the economy he’s had,” but Nickell was concerned about the potential cut in jail funding before Richardson’s clarification.

“Everything’s just real tight,” Nickell said. “We’re going to have to find some new sources of revenue – whether that’s gambling or something else – if we’re going to keep providing basic services.”

Beshear touted his proposal to allow video lottery terminals at horse tracks in his speech and said afterward he will evaluate whether he can pass the bill in the 2010 session. The measure narrowly passed the House in a June special session but died in the Senate budget committee without reaching the floor.

“We’re going to have to see if people’s minds have changed, if the numbers have changed,” Beshear said later. “I think we can pass it in the Senate if they will let it come up for a vote on the floor.”

But he conceded he’s unlikely to get all of the Democratic votes in the Senate, saying there are enough votes among Republicans and Democrats to pass it. Sen. R.J. Palmer, D-Winchester, said at least one and possibly two Democrats might find it difficult to vote for the bill. He wouldn’t identify them.

Nickell said sentiment may be changing in the governor’s favor on the question.

“A year ago more were against it than for it,” he said. “But as more and more people go across the river to gamble and after what happened in Ohio, there’s more support for the VLTs at the tracks.”

Beshear specifically said he would not add gambling to a special session if one is called to pass economic incentives to lure the Harley Davidson motorcycle facility to Kentucky.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.