Jim Flory, Charles Jones and Nancy Thellman

Douglas County commissioners will be watching revenue numbers closely in 2009.

“The priorities I think are going to be dictated by the current economic situation,” said Jim Flory, who will take office Monday as a new commissioner along with Nancy Thellman.

The commission will also have a new look and a Democratic majority with Thellman and Commissioner Charles Jones on board. Flory is a Republican. The new lineup ends several years with Jones as the lone Democrat.

Commissioners went through a tough budget session last summer when they set the 2009 budget, and county leaders are hopeful the revenue for 2009 will not produce major surprises.

With declining or stagnant property values and a potential slowdown in sales tax revenue, the county did reduce spending across the board in the last months of 2008. County leaders expected to end the year with $1 million more in revenue than they projected in July.

“This is a result of a significant cutback in spending and in activity since the financial crisis,” County Administrator Craig Weinaug said.

Weinaug said county department leaders and commissioners plan to start work earlier on the 2010 budget because it’s likely that the revenue picture will worsen for next year.

“I think all the commissioners will agree that the sooner we start looking at issues as far as 2010, the better,” Flory said.

Flory said a major challenge will be trying to maintain the level of services allocated for the 2009 budget, especially if the revenue picture declines.

Other than cuts, county leaders have looked at creative ways for potential savings. A program at the sheriff’s office aims to try to reduce recidivism and help frequent jail inmates adjust to life on the outside.

Jones, meanwhile, said he would like to see the county complete development of its ethics policy. “We’re already in a mode where we’re watching things more closely than we were in the past,” he said.