MONTGOMERY, Al.
State government offices in Alabama had 1,645 fewer employees on Sept. 30 compared to a year earlier, according to reports from the state comptroller's office.
The number of people employed by agencies, boards, courts and other state government offices outside of public schools and colleges totaled 35,993 on Sept. 30, a drop of 4.4 percent from the year before.
The offices had 37,638 people on Sept. 30, 2010, the end of the state's 2010 fiscal year. That was close to the number of employees at the end of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 fiscal years.
But the number of employees fell in fiscal 2011.
"You have agencies that are just trying to do more with less," said state Personnel Director Jackie Graham. "Probably some of the functions they normally would do may just not get done, or get done as quickly."
Gov. Robert Bentley said, "You can reach a critical mass where the loss of personnel really does decrease the services of the state, where people begin to notice it."
Asked if that point had been reached, Bentley replied, "Well, we're close."
The employee counts from the comptroller's office included full-time, part-time and temporary employees of the courts, Legislature and dozens of agencies that oversee prisons, highways, child welfare, Medicaid and other areas.
The reports excluded almost everyone working for public schools, colleges and universities, with a few exceptions, such as central office employees for the state Department of Education and two-year college system. The reports also excluded legislators and people awarded personal services contracts by state agencies.
Bentley and others said the number of state government workers fell in the last fiscal year because the state didn't have the money to replace many employees who retired or resigned, or who left because of layoffs in offices such as the court system, mental health department and Department of Agriculture and Industries.
Shrinking tax dollar
State tax collections and other revenues flowing to the state General Fund, a major source of money for non-education agencies, dropped in the wake of the great recession and haven't recovered to levels reached in fiscal 2008. Federal stimulus money, which Congress distributed to Alabama and other states, more than made up for the difference in the fiscal 2009 and 2010 fiscal years, according to Alabama's Legislative Fiscal Office.
But from fiscal 2010 to last year, the total of General Fund spending and federal stimulus dollars that were spent to supplement the General Fund dropped to $1.77 billion, a decline of $230.9 million, 11.5 percent, according to LFO data.
Bentley predicted spending would continue to fall, and lead to further drops in state government employment at the end of this fiscal year and the end of the 2013 fiscal year.
Bentley said there's a good chance General Fund revenues will plummet in fiscal 2013, in part because of the loss of a $266 million windfall that is propping up the General Fund this year. "We do have to live with the money that we have, but it is going to be a very, very difficult year next year," he said.
Stimulus funds
Bentley and state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, also noted that Alabama has used up the federal stimulus dollars spent to supplement the General Fund in recent years. The stimulus money totaled $1.12 billion in fiscal 2009 through last year, according to the LFO.
"Those funds have now run out, and we're still in an economic slump, which means the state tax revenue has not rebounded. So there's going to be a contraction in state government," said Orr, adding that many other states are in the same boat. Orr is chairman of the Senate committee that oversees spending by the state's non-education agencies.
Hiring freeze
Bentley, who took office in mid-January, said his administration has imposed a modified hiring freeze. His predecessor, Gov. Bob Riley, also imposed one about two years before Bentley took over.
Bentley said agencies are allowed to replace people who retire or otherwise leave only if the state finance director, one of his top aides, approves. "When you say a hiring freeze, it's not always 100 percent, but it's pretty close," Bentley said.
State agencies or other parts of government that had fewer employees on Sept. 30 than a year earlier, according to the comptroller's office, included:
*The district and circuit court system, including the Montgomery-based Administrative Office of Courts. The system had 2,000 employees, a decline of 14.1 percent, 328 people.
Callie Dietz, the administrative director of courts, said a reduction in staffs for circuit clerks and judges statewide has "greatly affected their ability to process cases in a timely manner and to provide assistance to the citizens that come into their offices and courtrooms seeking justice."
*The Department of Mental Health. It had 2,191 employees, a decline of 12.7 percent, 318 people.
Much of the drop came because the agency is closing Partlow Developmental Center in Tuscaloosa, where earlier this year 160 people with intellectual disabilities lived and about 440 people worked.
The department is moving Partlow residents to group homes and other facilities run by private companies and community groups. Partlow is scheduled to close Nov. 30, said department spokesman John Ziegler.
*The corrections department, which operates prisons that house about 25,600 inmates. It had 3,992 employees, a drop of 3.7 percent, which is 154 people.
The department didn't replace many of the people who retired or otherwise left, but it plans to maintain about 4,000 employees through this fiscal year, said spokesman Brian Corbett.
"We believe we're maintaining all our critical staffing levels to provide public safety," he said.
*The Department of Human Resources. It had 4,155 employees, a drop of 3.3 percent, which is 144 people. "The reductions are from people leaving the agency and just not filling the spots," said department spokesman Barry Spear.
The department, among other things, investigates child abuse, oversees foster care, enforces child support and runs a federal food-assistance program for low-income people.
*The transportation department, which oversees highway construction and maintenance. It had 4,502 people, a drop of 3 percent, which is 138 people.
*The Department of Public Safety, which includes the Highway Patrol and Alabama Bureau of Investigation. It had 1,309 employees, a drop of 6.6 percent, which is 92 people.
The number of arresting officers in the department totaled 717 on Oct. 1, a drop of 60, which is 7.7 percent, in one year, said spokesman Sgt. Steve Jarrett.
"Trooper presence on the highways has decreased, so the public may see increased wait times for troopers responding to calls for service and crashes," he said. Jarrett also said waiting times at driver's license examining offices "may increase."
*The Department of Agriculture and Industries. It had 453 employees, a drop of 14.7 percent, which is 78 people.
Among other cuts, spokesman Brett Hall said the unit that investigates thefts of cattle and farm equipment was chopped from 10 full-time employees to one part-timer.
The department also now has just seven people, down about half, on its weights and measures team, which makes sure scales at grocery stores and pumps at gas stations are accurate, Hall said.
Mac McArthur, executive director of the Alabama State Employees Association, called on Bentley and legislators to raise taxes to lessen or prevent cuts in services and state employment in coming years. "You're going to have to do away with or limit services or you're going to have to have the revenue to provide those services," he said.
But Bentley said he would not propose tax increases, despite a looming drop in General Fund revenues in fiscal 2013. "We obviously are going to have to do some more cutting and streamlining," he said.
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