Sep 16, 2015 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – With the state budget impasse reaching its third month, Greene County officials will hold their own public budget hearings with department heads to discuss next year’s financial plan.

The budget hearings – the first time they’ll be held in the county in more than a decade – will begin Sept. 28 with three days during that week scheduled for the county commissioners to listen to capital project and other financial requests from department leaders.

Chief Clerk Jeff Marshall said the county has conducted “a few” hearings during his tenure, but has not held one since the early 2000s. He said county officials are concerned about what will happen to the state budget, along with declining coal tax revenue.

“We’re trying to figure out what services are essential and what can be cut,” Marshall said. “We’re making sure the department heads and officials have an opportunity to request (funding) in an open forum.”

No final decisions have been made yet on funding levels for each department, although Marshall expects the county will keep spending at its 2015 figure of $19 million, which represented a 7.5-percent increase over the 2014 spending plan. The county must pass its 2016 budget before Jan. 1.

There are five overarching county departments that include finance and administration, law and order, recreation, human services and economic development. Within each of those departments are dozens of subset offices that may also be part of the public budget discussions, although Marshall said a department head can choose to speak for the groups under his or her jurisdiction. Fifteen presentations are scheduled for the budget hearings, Marshall said.

Department heads also can submit an as-is budget for review by the commissioners if they are requesting similar expenditures as last year with no major personnel or capital improvements.

“Let the public see what’s requested and see where there’s a need,” Marshall said. “Everybody is trying to cut back because we don’t know what the state will look like for the first six months (of 2016).”

The state budget impasse has taken a toll on some departments, including human services, which relies heavily on reimbursements from the state. That department also functions on a “fiscal year” that runs from July to June to match terms with the state, which makes the budgeting process different with the county that uses a calendar year.

Human Services Director Karen Bennett said she is meeting weekly with Marshall and the county commissioners to discuss the situation and how to plan for the upcoming months should the state budget stalemate continue. She said her department cut all unnecessary travel and expenses after it was clear negotiations between the Republican-controlled state legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf had collapsed this summer despite a requirement that the budget be passed by June 30.