Budget cuts hit some Idaho agencies harder - Idaho Statesman

By Kathleen Kreller

While the governor called for 7.3% less spending overall, 4 departments face reductions ranging from 31% to 56%.

Four of Idaho's agencies and institutions could have their budgets pared by more than 30 percent next fiscal year, and if the recommendations by Gov. Butch Otter are approved by the Legislature, Treasure Valley residents could feel the pinch.

Repair and maintenance projects at state parks, like Lucky Peak, could be delayed. If you live in the Boise Front or parts of Emmett, you may not get a digital television signal from Idaho Public Television. If you sell or apply chemicals, you may lose work from the Department of Agriculture. Rural areas won't likely see any grants to improve infrastructure and attract new businesses.

Otter proposed an overall reduction in state spending of 7.33 percent. These agencies face larger cuts based on recommendations from Otter's staff about which spending is less critical.

Other than eliminating some one-time spending, the agencies will decide how to make the cuts work.

PARKS AND RECREATION

General fund appropriations would drop 55.83 percent from $16 million in the fiscal year ending June 30 to just over $7 million.

Park visitors may feel some "inconveniences," department spokeswoman Jennifer Wernex said. The department won't have money for a long list of capital projects.

"It's also going to limit our ability to address facility repair," Wernex said. "Things are tight, so the department will have to prioritize."

There is a bit of money in the budget for things like restroom and sidewalk repairs, but if something breaks, repairs could be delayed, she said.

One state park could close: Old Mission State Park, named for the old Cataldo Mission and owned by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. The Mission of the Sacred Heart is the oldest standing building in Idaho, built between 1848 and 1853 by members of the tribe and Catholic missionaries. Wernex said because the agency doesn't own the park, it was identified as a place to save money. The department is working with the tribe to keep the park open.

The department may hire fewer seasonal workers for the summer camping season.

PUBLIC TELEVISION

IPTV could lose 51 percent of this year's original $3.5 million general fund appropriation. Otter recommends $1.7 million.

Nearly all of the cut is in spending to make the federally required conversion from analog television signals to digital, scheduled to happen next month. Otter recommends no money for the coming year. He also recommends a 4.3 percent cut in general operations.

General Manager Peter Morrill said the Federal Communications Commission just two weeks ago told public television stations to apply for licenses that would allow them to buy and use new equipment to boost their digital broadcast signals in areas where signals are blocked by geography. Idaho has seven such areas: the Portneuf Valley; portions of the Wood River Valley near Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley; Glenns Ferry; Idaho City; the east side of Emmett; the Boise Front along the Foothills; and the Harris Ranch area of east Boise.

Once the licenses are granted, stations have just six months to get the new facilities working. The last time the FCC offered such licenses was 15 years ago, Morrill said.

"We believe this is critical," Morrill said. "If the door closes on this, we probably won't have another opportunity."

IPTV has applied for $1.7 million in grants to help pay for the purchase and installation of equipment to boost the signals to those areas. But the grants require local matching dollars.

Morrill said the opportunity developed after the budget was submitted. So he'll ask the Legislature to find another $300,000 to match any grants. Otherwise IPTV won't get the grants and the seven areas could remain without a digital signal.

COMMERCE

Otter recommends a nearly 41 percent drop in general funds for the Commerce Department, which markets the state and promotes new businesses and jobs. Spending would fall to $5.4 million, a cut of $3.8 million.

The biggest cut is likely to be in a grant program to help rural communities build infrastructure that brings jobs, said Bibiana Nertney, a department spokeswoman. The communities must match those grants, and in the weaker economy applications aren't coming in, so those dollars became an easy target, she said.

The cuts also reflect the loss of $1.5 million in one-time money for the promotion of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games that begin next month and some one-time federal money, Nertney said. The department also eliminated $50,000 for a paid internship program. Other cuts will come in travel, subscriptions and light bills.

One bright spot for Commerce: Otter has included $717,000 for Project 60, an economic development initiative to expand Idaho's economy to $60 billion a year.

AGRICULTURE

The Department of Agriculture faces a 31 percent cut, to $11.7 million from $17 million. The agency is cutting five positions. The department plans to stretch prior appropriations to help eradicate Eurasian water milfoil, an invasive plant that chokes lakes and waterways, through the next fiscal year, said Kelly Nielsen, the department's financial officer.