Shutdown Could Have Big Impact on Dakota County

As expected, Minnesota’s government closed for business at midnight Friday after leaders at the Capitol failed to bridge a $5 billion stalemate and craft a new budget for the state.

The result has Dakota County officials scrambling to tie down exactly what the ramifications of a shutdown are for the county.

But some of the bigger questions do have answers. According to Gail Plewacki, the county’s director of communications, the county isn’t expecting its $71 million stream of County Program Aid, or Federal funds—both of which come from the state—to be interrupted.

As a result, short-term, all of the county’s 275 employees will still have jobs on Friday, Plewacki said.

What we know: Impacts of a state government shutdown on Dakota County residents will vary. There will certainly be a slowdown or even a halt to many social services that are paid for by the state but carried out by the county.

“(Dakota County) is who delivers a lot of the safety net services to residents in the county even though they’re funded by the state,” Plewacki said. As a result, county staff is still assessing the more than 150 state-funded but county administered programs to see if they’re going to be suspended, she said.

In addition to services, there will be delays in transportation construction projects that the state is heavily involved in, Plewacki said.

But day-to-day operations, at least at the county level, should remain intact, she said.

Dollars and Cents

Dakota County’s $307 million budget for 2011 includes more than $59 million in County Program Aid and state grants, and another $12 million in Federal dollars that are doled out to the county through the state.

As late as Tuesday, those payments were not included in any barebones funding plans from lawmakers that were in front Ramsey County judges. But a comprehensive June 29 ruling by Judge Kathleen Gearin made it clear Local Government Aid and other standing appropriations, such as Federal aid, was to be disbursed to counties, cities and school districts, Plewacki said.

“The ruling has taken some of the pressure off,” she said.

It also means a shutdown wont force the county to use reserve funds to pay routine bills.

No Layoffs

While many state workers went home Thursday night with nowhere to work on Friday, for the short-term, the same isn’t true for most of Dakota County’s workers according to Plewacki.

I can’t guarantee there will be no impacts on our workforce long-term,” she said. “If (the shutdown) is over quickly, we don’t have an issue with idle employees.”

For example, Dakota County’s license centers will remain open and operating, Plewacki said.

“The centers have everything they need—tabs, license renewal forms—to do what we need to do. The only thing is that when it goes from us to the state, they wont be finishing things on their end. But we can still remain open and do our jobs, at least short-term.”

It’s too early to say where layoffs could come from if a long-term shutdown were to persist, but Plewacki said it will affect only a “small portion” of the county’s workforce.

“We’ll do everything possible not to do that, but be very thoughtful if we do,” she said.

Day-to-Day Impacts

It’s too soon to say how many programs and services could be stopped, Plewacki said, and as of Thursday night, Dakota County still didn’t have a comprehensive list of services that halted Friday.

“We’re still combing through some of the things on whether or not they’re going to be suspended, but major safety net services appear to be sticking around.”

Those include things like Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare, food stamps, county child protection services and services for the disabled.

But the Dakota-Scott Workforce Center in Bursville will close and Plewacki said the daycare subsidy for low-income families will be suspended.

Dakota County Commissioner Thomas Egan said many other programs relying upon state funding could also cease, but it’s not entirely clear what they are.

They could include funding for vendors who provide county services, such as probation, as well as mental health and job retraining programs and a detective who investigates economic assistance fraud.

Several more details in Judge Gearin’s ruling will likely need to be addressed to determine which services will be cut, if any, Plewacki said. For example, it’s unclear in the ruling whether public health being considered a core service includes disbursing public health grant funding or only the payroll for state public health employees.  A number of county programs are facing this same uncertainty according to Plewacki.

In addition to public services, many construction projects are currently underway on Dakota County roadways, including a $34 million project on Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley and Lakeville.

Plewacki said that project will not be delayed by the shutdown.

“The only impact on the Cedar project is the need for state inspectors and we can contract for those services,” Plewacki said.

But the same is not true for other projects, like Burnsville’s Highway 5 and Highway 13 interchange project. Because the state is leading on the design and funding of the project, it will be delayed, she said.

Mystery

There is a lot of mystery surrounding the shutdown and Dakota County is prepared for anything, according to Plewacki.

“Do we have financial reserves? Yes we do. Do we think it’s a good idea to use county reserves to backfill for state funds without guarantee we will have that money replaced is the question,” she said.