Nancy Nash wore black to her budget meeting with the Buchanan County Commission on Thursday.

It might be fitting for the commissioners to do the same when Ms. Nash, the county auditor, submits her final draft of the 2010 budget to them next month.

With sales tax revenue down and the cost of health insurance going up, everyone involved with next year’s county budget has prepared for a grim next couple of months. Ms. Nash met with the commissioners Thursday to go over her initial concerns after reviewing each department’s submitted budget.

The auditor will submit her final draft of the budget Nov. 15 to the commission, which then will commence trimming. Just how much will have a lot to do with which health insurance provider the commission chooses for the county’s employees. While the commissioners plan to make a tentative choice next week, Ms. Nash laid out her initial projections Thursday based on estimates that the county’s health insurance will go up at least 20 percent next year.

The county’s sales tax revenue is about $335,000 behind what was projected for 2009, and Ms. Nash optimistically expects that number to be $400,000 to $450,000 short by the end of the year.

As mandated by state statute, the county has $933,000 in an emergency fund for this year, but it also must replace that sum annually. The auditor believes the county only will have about $650,000 of that fund to carry over into 2010.

Partly as a result, Ms. Nash projects commissioners will have to cut $600,000 to $700,000 out of the budget for 2010.

“So start thinking,” she told the commissioners Thursday.

The problem facing the county is that 70 percent of its general fund budget is tied up in salaries and benefits. So without eliminating jobs, it’s difficult for the commissioners to find substantive places to cut at this point.

The good news to emerge from Thursday’s meeting is each of the county’s departments is at or below its budget for 2009.

“Everyone has really cooperated with watching their expenses,” Ms. Nash said. “We aren’t keeping up on the revenue side. That’s the problem.”

Ms. Nash told the News-Press that the county could benefit from a “use tax,” which in theory would tax services and goods from Buchanan County of which visitors take advantage. She said the money that sort of tax generates helps counties such as Platte better absorb years when sales tax figures are down.

Of course, the county always has met stiff resistance to adding another tax in the ballot. In the meantime, the current numbers didn’t do much to raise spirits in the commission office, but they were about what Presiding Commissioner Royal “R.T.” Turner expected.

“For a preliminary meeting, that was in the ballpark,” he said.

R.J. Cooper can be reached

at rjcooper@npgco.com.