County officials: Yuma coping after economic ‘free fall'

A recent study gave Yuma County a stress index of 28.37 percent - the second worse in the nation among counties with more than 25,000 residents. The stress index was derived after experts studied unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates for each county. In this series, the Yuma Sun talks to local businesses and organizations to see how they've fared in this economy.

Many residents are feeling the crunch of the tough economic times — but it's also a tough time for local governments, including Yuma County.

The Yuma Sun spoke with County Administrator Robert Pickels and Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Casey Prochaska about Yuma County government.

Both officials said it's definitely a very different situation than it was five years ago.

In 2005, Prochaska said, they saw a “significant amount” of rezoning and developers building large homes in addition to a lot of business both in the county and the city of Yuma.

She cited the Yuma Sun column “Comings and Goings,” written by business reporter Joyce Lobeck. “I can remember saying to Joyce, we should just call it comings, because nothing was closing.”

Small business is a measure of an economy, said Prochaska, and with new small businesses throughout the county, things were good. “Now, we don't see that.”

Pickels said construction was at its peak, people were employed at levels never seen before and homes were constructed at phenomenal rates.

“That almost seems like a distant memory,” he said.

Pickels said though it was unrealistic for them to expect that they could sustain those levels of growth, “it was really never expected it would drop as fast as it did.”

To sum it up, Pickels called it a “free fall.”

Now, they're seeing a very large negative impact, he said.

With foreclosures up along with the unemployment rate and bankruptcies, they all almost necessarily lead to the other, he said.

“When all three of those things are combined, they have a huge negative impact on the government services or the ability of government entities to provide services to the community.”

Though Pickels said “we've been lucky,” it's more important than ever to prioritize: “What are essential services?” he asked. “And when do you start reducing or in some (cases) eliminate services?”

Prochaska said it's important that the county has been conservative about hiring — making sure that they don't add people just because there are some dollars there.

“Those dollars do not belong to the board of supervisors, (who) have been very conservative throughout the years in adding positions,” Prochaska said, noting that adding (and keeping) staff is the most expensive part.

“You don't want to add people then lay them off.”

She said she credits Pickels with “grasping the importance of having a very conservative budget.”

“We are very fortunate to be able to provide services, especially with the limited dollars that we have,” she said.

Pickels said the county has been very lucky. “We have not felt the significant impact that others have.”

But that comes with careful planning.

Pickels said the county had a target last year for each department to save 6 percent. They ended up with an overall savings of 15 percent in the county budget.

This year, he said, they're targeting an overall reduction in spending of 12-13 percent in their $78 million budget.

“It's frustrating sometimes not to be able to do more to stimulate the local economy. As a county government, we are limited to what we can do.”

Pickels said, “It's tough to think about our friends and neighbors struggling as they have been the last few years.”

Prochaska agrees.

She said if there's one thing people can do, is to be a friend to people.

“A lot of times people are embarrassed to say ‘I'm having trouble at home.' There are ways each of us can help our own community and get through a rough time — and that will only make the community strong in the future.”

Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.