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contribution to the $100,000 fund for energy conservation measures. In other wards, this was their share of absorbing the cast of trying to reduce energy. John Link said that he cut all budgets by about 10°Io. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Building and Grounds budget has $400,000 in it for electricity. He asked if this was cumulative for all of the departments. Public Works Director Wilbert McAdoo said that this is only for the buildings that Public Works is responsible for. It does not include the landfill operations. Commissioner Jacobs asked what would be saved if this transfer were deferred for one year. Gayle Wilson said approximately $45,000-$50,000 would be saved. However, most of the costs would still be incurred if the transfer were delayed to a year from now. John Link said that some intangible costs would be incurred because employees need to know what is happening, since they have been hearing about this for months. He urged the Board to make the transition now. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he has been doing budgets for 18 years and this is the first year that he recalls cuts being made internally before the Board decides the budget. He does not understand this. Rod Visser said that the change from $300,000 to what is reflected here is part of the normal internal departmental review with the Manager. The Board asked the staff to look at possible reductions. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the perception that was put clearly in his mind was that if they were going to make this transition, it would cost $300,000. John Link said he will take responsibility for this reduction because at the May 5`" work session, when he saw that the price was for this was going to be $300,000, he asked the staff to trim it back as much as possible. Commissioner Gordon suggested that after the budget session is over, there should be discussion about changes in the budget process since it is compressed into a small timeframe. The process leads to some stress. Maybe the County Commissioners could offer same suggestions for changes in the process. Chair Carey said that they have changed the process before and it can be changed again. Commissioner Jacobs suggested having a budget sub-committee. This group could work with staff and start earlier in the year on the budget process. Commissioner Jacobs said that when the Board asked for the one cent step up from zero increase, and John Link had told them that 3 cents could not be cut, Commissioner Jacobs said that the process that they just went through shows that money could be cut out of operating. One of the challenges is to be creative about the County's entire operating budget. He thinks they need to have the same kind of rigor in the whole budget and not just one item. He feels like the County Commissioners are always reacting and he would like more options to look at reductions in the operating budget. Jahn Link said that the Board asked for his best thinking, which he gave. He welcomes the Board to look at areas in the budget where cuts can be made in operations. Chair Carey said that he remembers years ago when they adopted goals in March, and those goals drove the budget. The process now provides no guidance to the Manager. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the line items where Temporary went from $1,100 last year to $8,000 this year. Also, in a lot of the departments, Medicare went from $0 to thousands of dollars from last year. Donna Dean said that Medicare has previously been budgeted as part of the Social Security line item. This is the first year it has been broken out.