By Sara Quam
As soon as February, the county could see major changes in the Extension Office as dictated by the University of Minnesota.
Earlier this year, Extension educators got increased funding from the county - from 28 percent of their wages last year to 40 percent this year.
That increased funding was implemented to make up for a lack of state funds. Now, with an additional $4.5-million state fund shortfall, the Minnesota Extension Service will see a total reconfiguration of services and funding.
Essentially, it will eliminate staff and share duties among counties. Of the 245 educators, nearly 60 are predicted to be cut.
In 2003 Extension budgeted for $375,000 in county contributions. It estimates a savings of $2,500,000 by making the cuts, though.
County Administrator Kyle Oldre said, "The way I see it going is that we will no longer buy time but buy programs."
Chairman Ken Hoime said, "There will certainly be fewer educators to go around. I don't think it'll go over as smoothly as they'e pushing for."
The Rock County Extension Office has been without one position filled for about six months, so local impact may be to not fill that position at all.
Commissioner Wendell Erickson has been a longtime advocate of Extension programs.
Erickson said he doesnÕt like the way itÕs changing to a top-down structure. "A concern I have is that there's going to be less people delivering services, and I think that's been Extension's strong point."
The "county agents" of years past will change their jobs even more. Instead of offering general assistance, an Extension educator will have a special area of expertise and travel to counties in the region to deliver services.
Each county will have a county director who facilitates the services and connects users to the right educator. The director will also access more funding opportunities besides state and county contributions.
One of the biggest roles the Extension takes on is the 4-H program. Erickson said that more questions are left unanswered when the future of that program is considered.
The U of M has said that region educators who are in charge of 4-H can have local assistants who could take on a lot of the necessary tasks of running the program. However, by job description, the assistant would have to be funded totally by the county.
Erickson said that an example of Extension's need is after regional hail storms. Farmers always need attention from the Extension Office in that case. If the expert on crops has to travel through an entire region to assess damage, farmers might miss an opportunity to make a decision, Erickson fears.
"They're setting up layers you've got to get through for the services," Erickson said.
Response time for educators is a concern for Commissioner Jane Wildung too.
She said that through the Rock County Collaborative, she's seen how valuable educators are to community programs. And if they have to travel across a region for a program, driving time and other commitments may impede their usual good services.
With such a tight timeline, the County Commissioners said they are left wondering how it will all work out. But with decisions out of their hands, there's little they can do.
The board decided to write a letter addressing its concerns about future budgets and services and hope for the best.