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WEDNESDAY, October 26, 2011 n VOL. 40, NO. 43 n 75¢
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County might reduce workforce because of higher health care costs By SCOTT RASMUSSEN
Ron Moncrieff/contributed photo
PAGE 10,13,14
Cutbacks will ‘frustrate citizens, burn out staff,’ says county administrator County reporter/Journal editor
Ron Moncrieff took this photo of a barred owl. For a listing of Halloween events, see page 12.
SPORTS
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
And you thought your health care costs were steep. San Juan County is bracing for a 22 percent increase in health care costs beginning next year, and, as a result, its preliminary 2012 budget calls for the elimination of 3.5 full-time jobs to offset that anticipated spike in general fund expenses. Administrator Pete Rose noted the budget unveiled last week is the fourth consecutive in which the county workforce will be reduced. It calls for $13.7 million in general fund revenue and expenses, which is roughly equivalent to last year’s general fund and about $150,000 less in projected revenue than in 2010. Deputy Administrator David Kelley said the $235,000 cut in next year’s payroll costs is not, at this point, a done deal. The county’s insurance provider, Group Health, would be willing to reduce the county’s annual premium by a substantial amount in exchange for raising the amount employees pay in deductibles, he said. “Our claims have been running about 25 percent higher than our premium,” Kelley said. Kelley noted, however, that any
increase in deductibles would years. Another 10 have been elimrequire approval of the county’s inated in the road division of the unionized workers. He said nego- Department of Public Works. tiations are underway with union Rose said the cutbacks are “desrepresentatives regarding possible tined to frustrate citizens and burn concessions in the out staff.” current collective “We have spent “We have spent bargaining agreethree years trythree years trying ment. The agreeing to hold the ment calls for a 3 to hold the core of core of the counpercent pay increase ty government county government together,” he said. in 2012 for members of Local 1849, “We are not able together.” and a 2 percent raise to do that in this — Administrator Pete Rose for members of the budget. Previous Sheriff ’s Guild. reductions have In addition to a $13.7 million harmed the effectiveness of the general fund, the preliminary county organization. The reduc2012 budget calls for $3.1 million tions proposed in this budget in state and federal grants, a $10.4 harm the organization and our million Road Fund, a $4.4 million capacity to deliver its services in Equipment Rental & Revolving the affected departments.” Fund and nearly $3 million in Departments targeted for bond payments. The mental staff cuts are the Sheriff ’s Office, health tax fund, which is gener- Community Development and ated by a .01 percent tax on retail Planning, Dispatch, Juvenile sales and went into effect in 2010, Court and the prosecuting attoris expected to total slightly more ney’s office. Faced with a potential than $1.5 million in 2012. $100,000 budget reduction, Sheriff Following the elimination of Rob Nou said the likelihood of 6.5 jobs in late July, the county the department losing a deputy is workforce now totals 225 employ- “very real.” ees. Nearly 23 positions have been The 2012 preliminary budget cut from those departments that book is available online at: http:// draw financial support from the sanjuanco.com/2012Budget. general fund over the past four
Sounder deadlines
County unemployment rate hard to calculate by MEREDITH M. GRIFFITH Staff reporter
San Juan County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state as of August 2011, at 5.7 percent, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That sounds relatively rosy until more details are considered. That unemployment rate is based on a total county labor force of 8,800 people, with 8,300 employed and 510 unemployed. In another report, the BLS’s August 2011 job count based on those under the unemployment insurance system, counted just 5,840 jobs. Dave Wallace, Acting Chief Economist at the state Employment Security Department, said the lower number is a better measure of the true number of jobs held in the county. “It’s our best guess; take it for what it’s worth,” he said. “There are probably a lot of people that aren’t counted.”
Wallace also said this “best guess” doesn’t count people who are self-employed and those who don’t pay into the system, such as those who work for cash only. Retired Orcas Island consultant and investment analyst Steve Garrison offered the following insights on interpreting Bureau of Labor Statistics data: “BLS counts employed and unemployment through payroll data and unemployment insurance claims reported by the states. The data collection is less satisfactory in underground economies such as San Juan County because it is difficult to count someone as now employed who is hired in a cash economy if there is no paperwork regarding that hire, and for those who are now unemployed, there is no documentation indicating their former employment.” The number of jobs is difficult to pin down.
So is the number of potential workers in the county’s seasonally fluctuating population. The BLS reports the county now has 1,360 fewer workers than in August 2008, when it had 10,160 workers and a 3 percent unemployment rate. Those workers may still be living in the county, but have become statistically invisible. If all those workers were here, and still vying for the county’s current 5,840 jobs, the county’s unemployment rate would be closer to 43 percent. Minnie Kynch, vice president of the Northwest Workforce Development Council, estimates that “discouraged workers” – those who have given up trying to get a job – put the total county unemployment closer to 10 percent. It’s difficult to find statistics that distinguish
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