The state Budget and Control Board has ordered all agencies to slice their budgets by 3 percent, a cut which will have varying impacts on local offices and schools that depend on state dollars.

Each will be tightening their fiscal belts as they try to maintain reliable, quality service to citizens.

“I think anytime you cut 3 percent out of anybody’s budget, it’s going to be substantial cut. Probably in some agencies, it would be a reduction in services,” said House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-St. Matthews.

The state Budget and Control Board voted 3-2 Tuesday to require all state agencies to cut their spending by 3 percent, a move Ott said he did not favor.

“I would have preferred to try to go in and look at some targeted tax cuts rather than cutting every agency across the board. I think right now it’s time for us to look at where we can make the cuts that have the least impact on the people that we represent,” Ott said. While making targeted cuts is more difficult than making an across-the-board cuts, the result is more advantageous, he said.

“Different people have different opinions on what’s important. But I would anticipate that if the economy gets any worse, that you will see us being called back to Columbia to figure out how we can make some additional cuts,” he said.

The across-the-board cut represents a total spending cut of $188 million out of the state’s $7 billion spending plan. Among the state’s hardest-hit agencies are Social Services at $4 million and Disabilities and Special Needs at $6 million.

Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, a member of the House Education Committee, said the cuts are actually a lot deeper than they appear.

“I think some of us anticipated that perhaps we were looking at a 2 percent cut before the end of the year, but obviously 3 percent is indeed bad news. As I understand it, those cuts aren’t based on what you had at the beginning of the year, but it’s 3 percent of what you’ve got left. So, obviously those agencies are going to be looking for ways to save money,” Govan said.

Ron Lofts, executive director of the Orangeburg County Disabilities and Special Needs Board, said the board is already tightening its belt as a contract agency of the state Department of Disabilities and Special Needs.

“We have not gotten any information yet as to how much of this percentage cut will be passed along to us. We have already been doing as much tightening as we can in terms of holding travel and only doing essential hiring,” Lofts said.

“As you can imagine, our gas bill has gone up about $11,000 in the last two months. We travel nearly one million miles a year in 75 vans all over the whole county. The food and gas costs hit households, but it hits us, too. We have 26 homes and residential services are provided to 136 people with food and medical care provided to them. Our food costs have gone up the same percentage as everybody else,” Lofts said.

“We’ve done a lost of cost-saving things as to how and where we do our shopping. Eighty percent of our budget is staff. At some point, it comes down to cutting that. We’re not at that point yet, but we’ll wait and see,” said Lofts, who remains hopeful that cuts will not trickle down to affect the local board.

“Our state department has usually been very good about trying to keep as little of that impact coming to us as they can. The state department has been internally able to absorb previous cuts. We’re not getting additional money, but we’re not being cut either,” he said.

Harold Williams, executive director of the Orangeburg County Department of Social Services, also does not expect to have to cut staff as was done in 2003.

“If this cut hurts us, it won’t be in terms of benefits for clients because all that comes from the federal government, such as food stamps. It would hurt us in terms of staff and equipment and travel, but I don’t see anything beyond that part of it. We talked about it at the state office, and no one said it would directly impact the counties yet,” Williams said.

“We already had a plan to be more conscious of travel and visiting clients, where two people can ride together in one car in going to different places. I’m sure the cuts are going to have some impact, but, to be honest, I don’t really know right now,” Williams said.

Govan said the state’s revenue shortfall indeed has the budget in “dire straits.”

“Revenues from sales taxes are in excess of $100 million below projections. Those actually aren’t projections -- those are hard numbers. That’s why we need to look at creating alternative ways of helping those agencies and the state get through this crisis that we’re facing,” he said.

“We’ll get through it, but we just have to be smart about it, work together and make sacrifices,” Govan said.

Mike Chappelle, district health coordinator of the Edisto Savannah Public Health District, Region 5, said “to date, no firm budget decisions have been made. A budget cut may affect the region’s ability to hire staff.” But the situation is still being analyzed.

Local colleges and universities are already faced with difficult decisions.

Dr. Ann Crook, president of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, said, “The additional 3 percent cut from the state ... is a serious concern to us. A number of teaching positions have not been filled because of a lack of funds. We are continuing to register students for classes.

“Until that process is complete, we will not finalize our budget to resubmit to the Commission (on Higher Education) for approval.”

Crook said the college has already had 5 percent cut in state revenues and a $50,000 shortfall in funding from Orangeburg County Council. She said the tentative budget that was passed by the commission in June did not reflect all of those cuts which came even before the state cut.

“Now we are faced with an additional cut of about $170,000. Today, we are reviewing all department budgets to find way to decrease our budget. There are no easy answers because we already have a very lean budget,” Crook said.

South Carolina State University released a statement saying the cut represents a loss of approximately $700,000 and is challenging for the “historically underfunded” university.

“A 3 percent reduction ... increases our overall reduction in state E&G (endowments and gifts) funds in 2008 to approximately $3.2 million. We will be unable to fill critical faculty positions, upgrade outdated instructional equipment and position ourselves to meet the needs of the growing population of non-traditional students,” the statement said.

The cuts will also inhibit the university’s ability to garner competitive funding from public and private sources to enhance academic, research and outreach programs and “our ability to conduct business and pay for services provided by local businesses,” the university stated.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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