| Sharla Bardin

sharla.bardin@roanoke.com, 381-1669

CHRISTIANSBURG -- Montgomery County leaders are moving forward with a plan to restore funding to their constitutional offices that was cut by the state.

On Monday, administrative officials discussed with the board of supervisors a plan to offer money from the county's rainy day fund, which is used for emergency purposes, and the general fund to help offset more than $424,000 in state cuts to the constitutional officers -- the sheriff, treasurer, commissioner of revenue, clerk of the circuit court and commonwealth's attorney.

For the fourth time in two years, constitutional offices across Virginia were hit with state budget cuts in early September. Montgomery County's constitutional officers expressed concern then about the reductions and appealed to the supervisors for help, said County Administrator Craig Meadows.

Finance and administrative staff have been working with the constitutional officers to develop a plan to address the state cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year, which runs through June.

"We recognize that this cut in the middle of the year puts the constitutional officers in a very difficult position," Meadows said.

Without funding help, some of the constitutional officers said they would have to look at laying off personnel or curtailing hours.

Meadows said there are no layoffs planned, but some job vacancies won't be filled to save money.

The state cut $281,794 from the sheriff's office, $50,104 from the commonwealth attorney's office, $43,157 from the clerk of court's office, $24,321 from the treasurer's office and $24,821 from the commissioner of revenue's office, according to information presented Monday night.

Meadows said the plan is to use $131,480 from the rainy day fund, as well as $122,405 from the county's general fund. The money is coupled with hiring freezes from some of the constitutional offices, as well as budget adjustments.

All the offices receive a combination of state and county funding now, he said.

Officials in the affected offices said they appreciate any help from the county but worry about what happens next from the state.

"We really appreciate the board supporting us so we can continue to serve our citizens in the manner that they deserve," said Alice Jones, chief deputy in the commissioner of revenue's office.

Without additional help from the county, the office "would have probably had to lay someone off," Jones said.

Treasurer Richard Shelton said without the county help, "we'd have to relook at our budget to see where we could cut."

Sheriff Tommy Whitt said, "We have worked with and will continue to work with the county finance and the board of supervisors in whatever fashion is necessary to make the impact as minimal as possible."

Whitt said his options without help from the county would be layoffs, furloughs or salary reductions.

Meadows said a big concern from officials is "what additional reductions may be brought forward next."

Meadows said the county is reaching a point where the board may have to determine ways to increase revenues, such as a property tax increase, or what services will the county have to curtail because of budget constraints.

"Fiscal year 2011 is going to be an extremely difficult budget for Montgomery County and other jurisdictions," he said.

The board will have a budget work session Nov. 16 to talk about the future budget.