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| 3/10/2009 5:51:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Proposed 4-H budget cut threatens local clubs & popular fair
Katy Zillmer
staff writer
The Washington County Board may have to make over $3 million in additional budget reductions this year - but the possible funding cut to the local 4-H program is drawing considerable attention and especially hitting home to the youth development club's staff, members and volunteers.
The county's funding for 4-H has slowly dwindled in the past few years - but the proposal to cut the cash flow completely came as a shock to some.
"We really didn't think it would happen all at once ... so I think that was the hardest thing of it," says Anja Koester, one of the two full-time 4-H program coordinators who would lose their job if the funding is cut. "Growing up in 4-H, I know definitely what 4-H is all about and what it can bring to these young people," she says.
The county commissioners discussed all its proposed cuts - an estimated additional $3.2 million since it approved the 2009 budget last December - at a workshop on Feb. 17, says Lowell Johnson, director of public health and environment.
That department acts as a liaison between the county board and the University of Minnesota Extension Service's regional office in Andover. The 4-H Youth Development program was built into the university system in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over 100 years ago.
The county's total budget cuts are a result of the loss of state programming aid it expected to receive, Johnson said.
In fact, the dollars allotted to 4-H for 2009, about $130,000, were originally approved as part of the budget in December. That funding pays the salary, benefits, insurance, vacation and mileage for two full-time program coordinators and per diems for the 4-H executive committee, says Patricia Morreim, regional director at the Extension office in Andover.
Funding from the county, about $16,000, for a master gardener position had already been pruned from the budget, she says.
Starting last year, 4-H in Washington County had already been covering its own operating costs through fundraising in the community, Morreim says. The membership dues were also raised to $45 to cover the reduced county funding.
"The board is in a very difficult place ... they get a lot of pieces that come to them in terms of mandates from the state level. We understand and appreciate that is really difficult," Morreim says. "But, I was surprised that they were going to remove the program completely, instead of reduce it to one position or reduce the percentage of (employee) time."
If that happens, youth can still enroll in 4-H and local clubs can operate on their own, Morreim says.
The vote on the proposed budget cut is expected to take place this month.
Since the county already set a contract with the Extension office to fund 4-H for another year, that agreement will end July 1 if the board decides to eliminate funding, Johnson says. The county will save $62,000 this year if it opts to end the agreement on July 1, he says.
No more county fair
From the perspective of 4-H Club members, the loss of funding will eliminate the specific programming in Washington County - especially participation at the very popular annual county fair.
"It is a huge loss because when you have two staff in that county; they have been able to provide management, goals for clubs, (and) after-school, site-based programming," Morreim says.
Throughout Washington County, there are more than 800 youths involved with 23 different 4-H clubs. There are site-based programs in Lake Elmo and Landfall, among other locations.
If the county funding is cut, the timing of the decision will come just before the yearly 4-H showcase at the Washington County Fair.
"If both positions were completely eliminated and there was no county funding, there would be no Washington County youth participation in the State Fair (and they will) not be able to compete in county fair," Koester says.
"Basically, there would really not be a program left, because with the 4-H program here in Minnesota, there has to be a program coordinator within the county. It can not be run by only volunteers," she says.
As far as the possibility she may lose her job in July, Koester says she hasn't even thought about that factor.
"We've just been trying to support everyone else. We're trying to focus on the kids right now. I guess when it happens, it happens," she says with sadness in her voice.
Until then, she says, they will keep planning the program is it is. "We need to keep showing the community what 4-H is. To us, it's crucial to keep this youth development going as long as we can."
Valuable, but a lower priority
The County Board members don't discredit the valuable youth development offered by 4-H, according to District 2 Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek of Oakdale, but in the past has questioned using taxpayers' dollars to pay for the programming.
"It's unfortunate that it's kind of come to this because it's such a great program," says Pulkrabek, whose district includes Oakdale and Lake Elmo.
In fact, county staff had recommended in December that the commissioners cut 4-H at that time, but they voted to keep the program in the budget for another year, Pulkrabek says.
But when the county did not receive extra funding from the state and found that it would need to spend $20 million less than last year, 4-H had to be one of the additional proposed cuts, he says.
"When you're talking health, safety and welfare of the county, not to say it's not a valuable program, (4-H) is a lower priority."
In the past few years, the county funding to 4-H has reduced from $200,000 (including support for the Master Gardener program before it was cut), to $150,000 in 2007 to $145,300 in 2008.
"They know that we've been telling them for years now to charge more money (and) do more fundraising," Pulkrabek says. "It's not like we just dropped it on them."
Pulkrabek says he thinks 4-H could sustain itself, but in the meantime would be open to considering funding the program through this year's Washington County Fair.
'If there is no 4-H ...'
It is the 4-H participation at the county fair and the future of the local clubs that are the most concerning to members and staff.
Eight of the 12 buildings at the county fair house 4-H projects, says Connie Williamson, an Oakdale mother of four and leader of the Lucky Aces club.
Lucky Aces has 22 families as members and children with a variety of interests, everything from working with dairy animals to computer projects, Williamson says.
"If there is no 4-H, there is no county fair, in essence," she says, adding that her own club probably wouldn't be able to continue.
"4-H, I believe, is a preventative program. It's got a place in a kids' life, and I would be very saddened to see it not work. I also think a lot of kids find their career path in 4-H. I did, and I know of other people who do," Williamson says.
The County Board's agenda for the rest of this month has not been set, but the commissioners will vote on the funding cut sometime in March.
"The things we have choices about doing and how much are very few when it comes to projects like this. The board has always been very clear that we recognize the work 4-H does in the community," Johnson says
Katy Zillmer can be reached at kzillmer@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7822.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Article comment by:
John Strohfus
Thanks for writing a very thorough article.
I think the point that is being missed that many fail to realize is how much revenue for city and county businesses is generated directly and indirectly by the 4-H program.
I am in the process of completing extensive data analysis which proves that not only does the $130,000 investment in two (2) county positions pays for itself, rather far exceeds it many times over.
These are hard facts that the Commissioners will have to consider before they render their final decision. If 4-H goes, the County Fair and all the vendors who exhibit there go as well.
The revenue from the 4-H program and the County Fair is measurable and indisputable. These are the hard facts, the intangible cost avoidance savings to other county departments by keeping our youth on the right track to become our Future Leaders vs. becomming additional cost burdens (juvenile detention, social work, teacher distractions etc.) is the icing on the cake.
I challenge all government leadership to look at all of the programs they offer (mandated or not) and find where a $130K investment pays for itself multiple times over. After that's done, let's talk about what programs are the "lowest priority".
Thanks for your coverage of this most important issue.
Best Regards,
John Strohfus
Woodbury, MN
Sunnyside 4-H Alumni
Corporate IT Executive Owner of 2 Local Small Businesses.
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