Lane County Commissioners are still trying to deal with balancing the current year’s budget… something they usually have taken care of by June of each year. But a series of events came together to disrupt the process this year, creating a very difficult situation.
Commissioners and administration are working together to find the last $800-thousand in cuts. As soon as they’ve taken care of that, says West Lane Commissioner Jay Bozievich, they’re going to have to begin looking seriously at next year.
Bozievich – “We’re looking at another ten to 12 million in cuts next year. And that’s going to be some very serious cuts. We’re down to 20 hour patrols now, prosecuting only the most egregious property crimes, and we had to cut 84 jail beds this year, I just don’t know where some of this is going to come from.”(click here to listen to quote)
Bozievich says one possible solution is getting a long term commitment from the federal government to allow sustainable harvest of timber on federal lands in Lane County. If that’s not possible, then residents will be forced to look at a drastically changed array of services from Lane County.
