COQUILLE - A union leader implored the Coos County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday to delay laying off 25 percent of the county's 410 member work force until at least July 1.

“I would urge you to avoid early layoffs and to gamble on hope rather than to take a gamble based on fear,” said David Jennings, a representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees No. 2936, which represents about 135 of Coos County employees.

County officials announced last week that due to Congress's failure to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act - which shuttled about $7 million to Coos County this fiscal year, and tens of millions since 2000 - more than 100 employees could lose their jobs by March 1.

The revenue accounts for about 45 percent of Coos County's general fund. The layoffs would drastically reduce the level of services county employees - including sheriff deputies, prosecutors and roadwork crews, among others - offer and would gut an untold number of public programs.

The 6-year-old timber payments law expired in September and Congress has yet to renew it, despite ongoing efforts from legislators to do so.

Jennings, who also is a 24-year-veteran of the county's juvenile department, requested Wednesday's meeting with the commissioners. He said he thinks the commissioners may be jumping the gun.

“If you go ahead and hang in there a little while longer, we think there is a fairly good chance that there will be at least some (timber payment reauthorization),” Jennings said.

The federal subsidy, which some have referred to as welfare payments in lieu of logging, has shuttled hundreds of millions of dollars to federal timber-bearing counties across the United States, after legislation passed in the 1990s which placed severe restrictions on logging in federal forests.

Jennings based his argument, in part, he said on conversations with politicians and lobbyists in Washington, D.C., who are optimistic of the bill's chances for renewal.

“I hope you're right,” Coos County Commissioner Nikki Whitty said in response.

However, none of the commissioners moved from the layoff stance. Whitty said the county has been working with various groups - and waiting - for six years for Congress to renew the bill.

But, it hasn't happened.

So the county needs to brace itself, she said, and its employees sooner, rather than later, to avoid even deeper staff cuts. Some believe that even if Congress renews the payments, a portion of which also is earmarked for school districts and county roads, that it would be for one more year, and at reduced levels.

The county, Whitty explained, wants to begin layoffs before June 30, the end of the county's fiscal year, because there are about $1 million in unemployment, sick leave and unused vacation payouts that need to be made to those who lose their jobs. Postponing layoffs until after June 30 would force deeper cuts, Whitty said.

Commissioner Kevin Stuffle-bean agreed. He said that by giving employees advanced notice, they could begin searching for new jobs.

“It's definitely an issue of gambling and I'm not sure if I want to gamble with that many people's lives,” Stufflebean said.

He's not willing to wait.

“We have been in the hope mode now for so many months,” Stufflebean said. “We now actually have to look at what the reality is and the reality is that we don't have the money now coming into next year.”

Jennings suggested the county dip into its $6 million reserve fund, $4 million collected in a forest fund and $2 million in its unappropriated ending balance fund - to pay for a portion of the shortfall until the end of the fiscal year.

However, Whitty said the reserve money cannot be touched this year. Coos County Treasurer Mary Barton said that according to state law, neither fund can be tapped until July 1.

Since the timber payments were paid by the federal government to cover county expenses for the fiscal year, Jennings said, there is a duty to try and maintain those services until June 30.

“The federal government gave those to us, I believe, with the expectation that we provide public services,” Jennings said.

He tried to paint a small portrait of how county services could be impacted when the cuts are made. He said the District Attorney's office would scale back on prosecuting misdemeanors and the juvenile department would reduce services to children.

During a phone interview, Coos County DA Paul Burgett said his department, comprising seven assistant district attorneys, is already small by comparison to similarly sized counties and that the prospect of reducing even more staff is “ugly.”

The DA's office is stretched thin when it comes to prosecuting cases involving drunk driving, game offenses, domestic assaults and furnishing alcohol to minors, he said.

“We have to be really choosey about what we take, basing it on the quality of the case, the likelihood of conviction and the resources we can justify to put into the prosecution,” Burgett said.

Cases that were once tried by prosecutors may simply be treated as violations or citations, he said.

“We will still do DUIIs and domestic assaults, but as you get further and further down (in staff) those may go, as will a number of felonies,” Burgett said.

It's also possible that the DA's office would forego prosecuting drug possession cases, he said, downgrading them to the realm of a violation or citation. He said that would be bad for public safety, since drugs, mainly methamphetamine, are at the root of the majority of property crimes cases in the area.

Jennings also urged the commissioners to consider a tax levy. The county was successful at pushing through a temporary tax base for Coos County law enforcement in 1983.

“There's an obligation to consider it,” he said.

None of the commissioners responded to his suggestion.

While Jennings said he is concerned about the loss of jobs and disruption in level of county services, he also fears for the overall health of the local economy.

“If we lay off 100 people, given the kind of South Coast economy we've got - on top of the layoffs we have already ... at some of the mills - this is going to have a devastating effect on Coos County,” Jennings said.

Younger county employees, who likely have children in local schools, and who don't have seniority, would be the first to go.

“If they don't think they have a future here, they're going to take their kids out of the schools and you will have a reduction of state money for the school districts,” Jennings said.

Despite Jennings' optimism for the reauthorization, Whitty said only a handful of congressional leaders in the House of Representatives has opted to cosign the bill thus far. Danielle Langone, a spokeswoman for Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said Friday so far there are 60 co-sponsors out of the 435-seat U.S. House of Representatives.

The House would need another 158 signatures to pass the bill.