Eureka JP office to be eliminated

Lincoln County Commissioners have voted to eliminate the Eureka Justice of the Peace office, however the County Road Department will not face the $400,000 cut they had braced themselves for last week.

Both decisions were made on Tuesday and Wednesday as commissioners made tough calls to reduce the $15.4 million budget ahead of the release of the preliminary 2014-15 budget.

On Wednesday, commissioners voted 2-1 to close the Eureka Justice of the Peace office on December 31, 2014  - and with it, 1.5 clerk positions.

Their vote follows the January decision to consolidate the justice of the peace positions in Eureka and Libby. It is likely the justice of the peace position will be based in Libby.

Commissioner Ron Downey proposed that a vote be held that morning to cut the office. Commissioner Tony Berget seconded the motion. Both Berget and Downey voted in favor of eliminating the office, while Cole voted to keep the office in place.

After proposing to have the vote held after the Nov. 4 elections, Cole indicated Wednesday’s vote was premature, saying afterwards “this is stunning.”

“I’m completely opposed to completely eliminating the service,” Cole said, ahead of the vote. “People will need help getting services over to (Libby’s) office. What I’m trying to establish is a level of service that works for our constituents in north county. We have not drawn that picture out.”

Eureka Justice of the Peace Stormy Langston – who will be up against Libby Justice of the Peace Jay Sheffield in the November elections – asked the commissioners: “So you are willing to cut two more jobs?”

Downey replied they were forced to make the cut because of the economy.

Berget said he hoped by making cuts now, the two clerks affected would have more time to find positions. He believed it might be possible to reassign them to the Eureka business office that handles motor vehicle services.

The cost of running the Eureka justice of the peace office was about $93,000, Langston said.

Afterwards, Langston said if the two clerks were absorbed into the Eureka business office, it would still impact the budget. 

The commissioners were waiting to meet with County Attorney Bernie Cassidy to look at legal options for consolidating motor vehicle services and justice of the peace services.

The commissioners also voted 2-1 to cut the Lincoln County Road Department by $75,000 instead of $400,000 – a number that had been suggested to Libby road foreman Marc McCully last week.

Earlier this week, Berget said that number had only been a proposed cut to the county’s $3.8 million road budget.

On Tuesday, Berget and Downey voted in favor of reducing the cut to $25,000 each for Libby, Troy and Eureka.

This was opposed by Cole, who wanted to cut the road department by $100,000.

Cole said it was important to maintain an expectation of cuts to show the county departments that was the direction everyone was going in.

The preliminary 2014-15 budget was expected to be available to the public on July 10. It is now expected to be out on July 16.