Three months of budget talks ended Tuesday when the Lake County Council passed a balanced $107.5 million budget but kept the gate open for borrowing up to $15 million to continue operating.
A multimillion-dollar deficit remains despite the council cutting the general fund by $2 million and the drainage fund by $1.3 million while eliminating the $2 million cumulative bridge fund.
"You can't cut yourself out of it," County Attorney John Dull later told the council in recommending the county borrow up to $15 million.
Precisely what the borrowed millions will fund remains unclear until further determination by a yet-to-be named borrowing committee. The borrowing is expected to include millions for federally mandated improvements to the county jail and health care costs.
Continuing to cut jobs would result in unacceptable levels of workforce reductions and/or court mandates preventing the reductions, subjecting the county to legal fees, Dull said.
Without changes in state law, implementing a local income tax of 1 percent would not help the county's shortfall because the tax is earmarked solely for property tax relief, Dull said.
Adopting the income tax would eliminate the levy freeze imposed by the state, but produce only $2 million in levy growth toward the budget, Dull said.
Dull said consultants hired by the county recommended adopting a general obligation bond with an interest rate of between 4 and 4.5 percent with payoff by the end of 2019.
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