RAPID CITY - Pennington County gave final approval to its $64.6 million 2008 budget Tuesday after making an adjustment that earmarked money for the Ellsworth Task Force.

The county cut $50,000 from economic development last week - half of which was to go to the Ellsworth Task Force - to pay for animal-shelter services next year with Humane Society of the Black Hills.

The cut left a balance of $27,500 budgeted for economic development, but $12,500 of that is obligated to Black Hills Vision. The commission voted to obligate the rest, $15,000, toward the Ellsworth Task Force.

A majority of the commission rejected a proposal to give the task force another $10,000 from the commissioner's $100,000 emergency fund.

Commissioner Brenda Young, who voted against the additional $10,000, said she supports the task force and their efforts but believed it would be a "slippery slope" to start doling out more money.

"All the programs that were cut, pretty much all of them, they all have merit. They all are worthy causes, and I don't know where we draw the line," she said. "If we start adding back in, we might as well add them all back."

Young said the task force has the opportunity to come back next year and ask for a budget supplement if they need additional funds.

Members of the Ellsworth Task Force urged the commission to provide full funding.

Bruce Rampelberg said advance preparation was key in the effort to get Ellsworth off the base-closure list two years ago - preparation that included assistance from local governing bodies.

"What's happened in the past is we've had an excellent team of people that made a concentrated effort over the last 12 to 13 years to be prepared," he said.

Ongoing preparation is necessary to keep Ellsworth off future closure lists because the military will continue to look for ways to cut expenses, he said.

"Right now, the fat is gone. We're right down to the bone as it relates to the military," Rampelberg said. "They're going to have to find ways to cut additional expenses. We're going to be right on the chopping block like we were a couple of years ago. So it's critical we maintain our effort."

Al Cornella, who helped found the task force in 1991 and served on the 1995 base-closure committee and served as chairman of the overseas BRAC committee from 2003 to 2005, agreed that preparation helped influence the U.S. Air Force and the president to keep Ellsworth open in 2005 and in 1995.

"The success that occurred in 2005 was actually the culmination of 14 years of work that had been done to preserve that base," Cornella said. "I would ask the county to continue support at the level it has in the past because of the importance of the base for economic development."

Cornella said the base had about $3 billion of economic impact on Pennington County from 1995 to 2005. He doesn't believe it is certain that the base will be on the next closure list.

"How they decide what base is going to be there is really a snapshot in time, looking at what missions exist on the base at the time and how they feel the need for that base is in the future," he said.

That's why ongoing work of the task force is important, he said.

Commissioner Jim Kjerstad said commissioners agree that the Ellsworth Task Force is a benefit and said the county will continue to be great supporters. He said he didn't want to sound "whiny" but the county made $3 million in cuts that were deep and will leave some departments scrambling to fund expenses.

"In the provisional budget, we don't have a lot of room. It just flat isn't there," he said.

Kjerstad said the county will be open to a budget supplement next year if money is available and the task force indicates it needs the money.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com