County executive Russ Pry said the county will offer buyouts in all city departments, institute shorter work days and explore merging the county's health department with the city of Akron's operations--all in an effort to save $5.4 million before he considers layoffs.
He said about one third of the general fund reserves have already been spent to make up for cuts in state and federal funds and shrinking tax revenues.
PRY: "Summit County cannot escape the fact that we are inextricably tied to the economic fortunes of our state and our country. In fact, we are part of a global economic community that has been hit hard by a very severe recession."
Pry expects to go to the financial well again to pay the bills in this year's $550 million budget, an amount that was proposed with a five percent cut in all departments.
PRY : "Our revenue projections for interest earnings alone have dropped over 50 percent or $6 million dollars in just over a year."
Pry said the lesson of 2008 is that finances can change rapidly, and he plans to be prepared for whatever comes this year.
Kymberli Hagelberg, 90.3