dbryce@journalnet.com

Counties in Southeast Idaho are looking for ways to cut their budgets in response to state holdbacks and a slumping economy.

Bannock County faces a $1 million shortfall created by state cuts, and county officials are asking department heads to trim their budgets by 2.5 to 5 percent.

Commission Chairman Steve Hadley said the commission met with elected officials last week and asked them to make cuts wherever possible.

Hadley said while nothing has been decided, options being considered include asking county employees to take unpaid leave and increasing the amount they pay for health care benefits.

However, Hadley said no layoffs are planned at the county level.

The economic stimulus bill could bring some relief to Idaho counties, but Hadley said it's still unclear how the federal dollars will be distributed or accessed.

Last week, Franklin County commissioners asked department heads to slash 2.5 percent from their budgets to offset a loss in revenue from sales and highway taxes, according to a press release.

Sales tax revenue in Franklin County is down 8 percent from the same period last year and is at its lowest point in the past five years. And fuel tax revenue in the county dropped $24,000 from October to December in 2008. The county is more than $35,000 behind budget projections for the first half of its fiscal year.

Bingham County Commission Chairman Cleone Jolley said officials are playing it by ear.

"We asked departments to watch their spending," Jolley said.

The federal stimulus package could provide some support in the form of grants and state funds, but Jolley also said it's too early to say if it will bring relief to rural Idaho counties.

In the meantime, the county anxiously awaits the financial boost that a new energy program will bring. In April, Logite International will begin collecting solid waste in Bingham County. The Utah-based company plans to build a steam reformer plant near the Central Transfer Station. The reformer will use the county's waste to produce biofuel. The project, which is expected to be completed in 2010, will also generate revenue for the county, Jolley said. The county will see a savings of about $30 per ton of waste collected and will receive 20 percent of all profits from biofuel production.

Power County Sheriff Jim Jeffries said rural counties are looking for new ways to generate revenue.

During a routine inspection of the Power County Jail last week, Jeffries said Idaho Jail Standards suggested increasing the jailer-to-prisoner ratio. The state agency has not mandated the additional hiring of detention officers, which Jeffries said could cost the county as much as $200,000. The cost is more than the county can shoulder given the current economy, Jeffries said.

The Idaho Department of Correction signed a letter of intent to house state prisoners at a new jail proposed in Power County, but the project has been put on hold while the state explores the possibility of constructing regional detention and justice centers.

Without a contract to house state inmates and generate revenue, Power County's proposed jail was also put on hold.

"I wanted to know how many inmates the state was going to send me and how long the contract would last," Jeffries said.

Jeffries plans to meet with commissioners next week to discuss the addition of one new detention officer to the jail staff.

The Power County Commission will meet with department heads next week to start its budgeting process.

Chairwoman Vickie Meadows said the county is hoping the economic stimulus plan brings financial relief to the county, but she's not counting on it.

"We haven't asked for cutbacks yet," Meadows said. "We just have to wait and see what happens."