Lawrence and Douglas County each will take million-dollar hits under cuts made by Gov. Bill Graves.

The cuts will cost Douglas County government $1.6 million next year from a fund that covers everything from paying sheriff’s deputies to spraying dust palliative on rural roads. The loss for the city will be in the range of $1.3 million.

“It’s a major catastrophe,” said Craig Weinaug, county administrator. “If they had told us last May or June that they would cut, we’d have been able to plan for it. To tell us after our budget is set is, to me, the height of irresponsibility.”

The county’s financial pain is the result of $48.1 million in savings Graves identified Tuesday by deciding to withhold “local demand transfers” to cities and counties.

In Lawrence, such transfers are used to finance a variety of programs in the general fund, which outlines spending plans for road repairs, police and fire protection, and dozens of other government operations.

Anticipating the cuts, city officials already had imposed a hiring “chill.” Now, more such measures are likely. Department heads will meet in early December to map out a plan of attack, City Manager Mike Wildgen said.

City commissioners don’t relish the task. They won’t have the option of raising taxes; tax rates already are set, which means cuts are the only option.

Graves’ announcement is expected to cost the city of Lawrence $1.3 million through the end of 2003, or nearly 3 percent of the city’s $44.8 million general fund budget.

County government has from $1.6 million to $1.9 million in reserve funds that could cover its loss of state revenue, Weinaug said, but such a respite would last only a year.

Weinaug said county commissioners would need to look for cuts in next year’s budget – a budget created with the state’s assurances that $1.6 million would be available to help defray the cost of basic services for county residents.

¢ Graves orders budget cutsPast story:¢ Education may be target of new cuts (11-21-02)

In June, county commissioners faced cutting six employees from the county payroll to account for expected losses in revenues, but commissioners ended up expanding the payroll after the outlook improved.

Now such difficult decisions could be back on the table.

“The rhetoric in the campaign in November was that they could eliminate the inefficiency in government,” Weinaug said. “I’m glad to know they’re sending us the message that all the money they send to local government is an inefficiency – it’s wasted money. On the face of it, that’s total malarkey.”