The state budget stalemate is beginning to hit county wallets.

Because state lawmakers have yet to agree on a spending plan, the flow of money to county human services agencies is interrupted.Carbon County Commissioners on Thursday loaned the Agency on Aging $250,000 to meet payroll and other expenses until the state adopts a budget.The money is from the reserve fund, Commissioners Chairman Wayne Nothstein said."Because of the budget not being passed, agencies, especially human services agencies, are running short on money. I expect that if the budget is not passed in very short order, we will be loaning money to our Children and Youth (services agency) and Drug and Alcohol program," he said. "It's really starting to affect a lot of lives."The loan is allowing the agency to continue to provide services to Carbon's elderly, said its accountant, Glenn Schoch.The budget impasse "means that none of the money we usually get from the state is coming to us," he said.The agency gets state money in 1/12 increments each month, beginning on July 1, the start of its fiscal year."Usually at beginning of each month, we have what we need for the month. We would have gotten three payments so far this year," Schoch said.Last year, the agency received $1,584,383 from the state's block grant, and provided services for 1,113 people.Because of the county's generosity, the elderly won't have to worry about having adult day services, nutrition programs, or protective services even though the state funding stream is dry."So far there has been no impact because of the loan. That enables us to continue as normal," Shoch said. "Hopefully a budget will be passed soon."Douglas Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said the impact varies from county to county, depending on their reserve funds and contracts with providers.Regardless of the budget situation on the state level, he said, "Counties are going to continue to provide services, particularly for those in need."Hill said most counties have learned from previous budget stalemates to develop contingency plans."For example, the day after the budget failed to pass, Lancaster County put in place delayed payments to their vendors. At the 30-day mark, it put in place a hiring freeze," he said.The organization did not have information on how many counties have taken out loans to tide over human services operations until a new budget is adopted."The bottom line is that we genuinely need to get a budget done. We're going to continue to provide services. The real crisis is for the taxpayer as counties make up the cash flow (in order to continue to provide those services)," he said.The impasse is starting to cost counties money."I know some counties will have to take out loans because of their financial situations," Nothstein said.However, Carbon County is good fiscal shape, so that's unlikely here."We're financially stable, better than a lot of counties, so that's a big plus for us," said Commissioner Thomas Gerhard.Those private-sector companies that provide for human services agencies may go unpaid, Nothstein said."A lot of them are feeling the crunch already," he said."The taxpayers, the businesses, are all being affected quite a bit already, and it's getting worse every day," Nothstein said. "We certainly hope the budget impasse comes to a close shortly."Commissioner Thomas Gerhard said, "It's frustrating. It's having an impact on the Area Agency on Aging, and on Children and Youth, and other human services. It is not good. I believe it's just a lack of common sense. It's about working together to try to pass a budget; it's not about parties."