PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo.—Facing a $1.8 million budget shortfall, Archuleta County may eliminate 21 jobs next week, on top of 22 layoffs last month.
The first round of layoffs, combined with reductions or suspensions in 15 programs, helped shrink the shortfall from the original $2.6 million estimate, officials said.
The new round of cuts, scheduled for a vote by the county commissioners on Tuesday, would eliminate jobs in the 911 dispatch center, the sheriff’s office, the planning department, the county extension office and other areas, officials said.
“These cuts will have very visible effects in the service level to the public,” County Administrator Bob Campbell said.
He said new cuts would save about $425,000 this year.
The commissioners are also scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to hire a forensic auditor to track down financial problems that contributed to the shortfall. Campbell said the county had overspent its income for several years.
Campbell said it could take up to six years for the county to recover and laid-off workers would not likely be rehired soon.
“It’s a long-term crisis or issue that we need to fix,” he said.
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Information from: Durango Herald,
