Counties, fed up with state budget impasse, explore feasibility of withholding funds
County commissioners and other officials in Pennsylvania gather annually after the election to discuss important matters, but rarely has a situation been as dire as the state budget impasse entering its sixth month.
Washington County Commissioner Harlan Shober, second vice president of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, was among those who discussed a course of action to end the stalemate and prevent future harm to taxpayers and those who use the services of agencies dealing with children and youth, senior citizens, behavioral health and development and drug and alcohol abuse.
“People are hurting out there,” Shober said Friday. “We wanted to give them time to work out their issues. Counties had immediate cash flow for a little while. Federal dollars were going into the state and our fees are being sent in.
“Bucks County is talking about holding back all the fees. We’re deliberating on what we do next. It enters into a whole legal issue. What we do is for the people, not the counties, but it’s the people who are being affected.”
Bucks County transfers between $4 million and $5 million each month to the state.
In its 2015 spending plan, Washington County depended on $24.4 million from what it called “intergovernmental revenues” for its $82 million general fund budget, which represents nearly 31 percent. The bulk of that money comes from the state, but counties have not received payments since the budget impasse began.
What are known as “human services” comprise nearly 28 percent of this year’s county budget, or $22.9 million.
Discussed in Hershey was an issue related to withholding money counties collect for the state.
“Do you put the funds in escrow?” Shober asked. “You can do that, but you’re not helping the people. I’m asking to see some kind of legal opinion and get some better answers before I, as a business person, would support that.”
Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has been at loggerheads with the state Legislature, where Republicans hold the majority in both houses. There was some hope the budget impasse, a fact of life since July 1, might be resolved by Thanksgiving, but that did not pan out.
At their meeting in Hotel Hershey on Monday, county commissioners from across the state adopted a motion by CCAP Board Chairman Jeff Haste of Dauphin County to have legal counsel research potential litigation against the commonwealth, specifically, requiring the release of state and federal funds for essential services, according to a news release from the Harrisburg-based organization.
Counties also authorized CCAP lawyers to investigate the legal ramifications to counties and county officials ceasing to remit funds, collected at the county level on the state’s behalf, during an impasse and allowing those funds to be used for essential local services.
County treasurers’ offices serve as intermediaries for the sale of dog licenses, which go on sale Dec. 1 for 2016; hunting licenses for deer; fishing licenses; and licenses for small games of chance.
The prothonotary, clerk of courts, register of wills, clerk of orphans’ court and magisterial offices collect state-determined filing and recording fees.
“The governor and Legislature do not fully understand the scope and nature of the harm their inaction causes, and do not seem to share our view of the crisis in services, which affects the everyday lives of our residents,” Haste continued.
The worst-case scenario for county governments includes tapping into cash reserves; being forced to borrow money, on which they must pay interest; delaying hirings; limiting services; and reducing or halting payments to vendors.
Washington County, which rode a wave of oil and gas revenue until this year, has a surplus, but revenues from natural gas extracted from beneath county parks and other property declined 75 percent this year.
Those who contract with the county to provide services to clients of the Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Department, formerly known as Mental Health and Mental Retardation, “have been out borrowing money,” Shober said. “Declining services will start with those providers.”
Shober said while there has been attention to the predicament of school districts having to borrow money to make up for a lack of state funds, “Nothing was said about counties and the cost of borrowing. I don’t know that anyone has made any promises to us.”
Shober said he personally would like to see the paychecks withheld “of the people making, or not making the decisions” during a budget stalemate.
“That’s a political ballgame going on right now,” he continued.”The state has a deficit and to try to help the school districts, they’re looking for money and they don’t know how to get it. We all should put our own skin in the game, so to speak. Maybe they should do without their salary and see how that works. We want something to happen.”