Today, the state's budget impasse officially stretches beyond the historic 101 day mark reached in 2009, leaving counties struggling to manage the impacts of delayed payments and to prepare their 2016 budgets.

County officials reiterated their dedication to the commonwealth's residents and their families to assure they continue to receive critical services, including mental health and intellectual disability services, children and youth services, and drug and alcohol programs, as they await word on progress that will lead to a final, responsible 2015-2016 state budget."The budget impasse is having significant impacts on counties, with those impacts varying based on an individual county's financial situation and the strategies used to sustain programs," Craig Lehman, Lancaster County Commissioner and 2015 County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania President, said. "Regardless, counties will continue to look for ways to provide services to abused or neglected children and to families struggling to handle the impacts of addiction or mental illness, and we will continue to support residents with intellectual disabilities."Compounding the impacts of the budget impasse is the county budget cycle, since county fiscal years operate from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. Counties are required to begin preparing their budgets for the next year at least 90 days prior to adoption, and with an adoption deadline of Dec. 31, counties began preparation in September."Normally at this time of year, counties would receive allocation letters and submit state funding requests for next year. Instead, counties continue to wait for passage of a state budget. In its absence, counties lack important information on how to budget for many of their most important responsibilities," Lehman noted.Carbon County Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said Thursday that the lack of a budget is really starting to take its effect on numerous county services and many are working without reimbursements."How long can they go like this?" he asked. "I wish they would come out with a budget one way or the other."State and federal funds account for an average of 40 to 60 percent of overall county general fund revenues.According to Bob Thomas, Franklin County Commissioner and 2015 CCAP first vice president, "Counties have already deployed a variety of strategies to mitigate the impacts of the budget impasse, but as each week passes without a resolution the solutions become increasingly difficult."For instance, counties are: Using county property tax revenues to support programs typically funded with state dollars; stopping payments to providers until state funds are available for 2015-2016; planning for cuts or decreases in programs to help sustain cash flow; considering adjustments such as reductions in staff pay, furloughs or layoffs; freezing hiring, travel and non-critical purchases and opening lines of credit or using tax and revenue anticipation notes to create a means of cash flow"Counties will continue to serve as a capable and competent partner for the commonwealth in delivery of services to all Pennsylvanians," Lehman said. "But each of these strategies comes with a cost and at some point, county taxpayers may be forced to shoulder that burden in the absence of a plan to address longer term impacts."Lehman said counties are calling for a viable commonwealth budget that recognizes the critical importance of the services provided to residents.In particular, counties emphasize that any initiatives that would complicate child welfare funding must be removed from consideration, as they would seriously endanger the ability of county child welfare agencies to meet their mandate for child safety.At the same time, counties are calling for a three-year restoration of human services lines that saw an aggregate 10 percent cut in 2012-2013.