Ouray County continues to address budget shortfall, cuts $27,000 worth of contracts
Last week, Ouray County announced a staggering $1.5 million budget shortfall. A large portion of that budget goes to staff salaries, so the county is considering layoffs or furloughs of county employees. At Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting, a county employee delivered a statement prepared with colleagues. He demanded a public account of how the county reached this point, and argued that county staff will be impacted by a problem they did not create.
Commissioner Jake Niece committed to reviewing the letter and said he hoped to adequately address questions during subsequent budget meetings.
The commissioners did make a unanimous decision at the meeting that should save some money. County Attorney Leo Caselli told the board that several software-related contracts up for renewal soon are not particularly useful, and suggested that the county decline to continue using the services. The commission voted in favor of the proposal unanimously, but decided that one of the contracts mentioned by Caselli is useful enough to renew.
Commissioner Niece confirmed that many of the contracts mentioned were not being used frequently. The cuts should help save around $27,000, but layoffs or furloughs are still on the table.
