Counties making difficult revenue, staffing, and service decisions, survey says.

• Position: News & Numbers

A new survey by the National Association of Counties (NACo) shows that counties continue to make difficult budget decisions to help them through their current fiscal year. NACo's recent "Coping with the New Normal: An Economic Status Survey of Countles," conducted in early October 2011, shows how counties are coping with cuts to revenue, staffing, and service delivery after years of revenue losses.

Although the recession officially ended more than a year ago, county governments continue to struggle as local economies work toward recovery. As this economic slowdown drags on, counties have made increasingly severe and long-term budget adjustments in their attempts to balance budgets and maintain service. A key finding of the survey is that only 35 percent of responding counties (69 counties) reported adopting balanced budgets this fiscal year with no anticipated shortfalls. More than half of responding counties (51 percent, or 107 counties) reported that declining revenues from the state and federal government was the main reason, and two thirds (66 percent, or 143 counties) reported employing fewer employees this fiscal year than they did in fiscal 2010.

According to the survey, county governments have made budget cuts and staffing adjustments in nearly every aspect of county...