Lancaster County commissioners are listening to the chatter in Harrisburg about the state's 2009-10 budget.

What they're hearing has them worried.

"The goal of Senate Bill 850 is no tax increases, and I think that notion is a fallacy," Commissioner Craig Lehman said. "If Senate Bill 850 passes, there will be tax increases. It will just occur at the local level, rather than the state level."

Cutting state funding for crucial programs and services and expecting counties to pick up the tab is unacceptable, commissioners Chairman Dennis Stuckey said.

"We are at tremendous risk of Harrisburg pushing these costs down on us," he said. "My fear is that they will do that. My responsibility to the taxpayers of Lancaster County is to push back when we have the opportunity."

The commissioners unanimously voted to adopt a resolution on Wednesday that will be sent to all of Lancaster County's state legislators, Gov. Ed Rendell and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania urging the General Assembly to "adopt a responsible budget that maintains funding for core government services and does not shift costs to the local level."

S.B. 850 was drafted by Senate Republicans in response to Rendell's $29 billion spending plan for 2009-10.

The bill proposes a spending plan of $27.3 billion, with no increase in state taxes.

It was passed by the Senate May 6 by a vote of 30-20, which was a vote along party lines.

According to Lancaster County commissioners, S.B. 850 calls for deeper cuts than Rendell's plan to several government programs funded or run by counties.

"The Pennsylvania Senate has passed a budget bill with devastating cuts to core government services, including mandated and entitlement services that must be provided regardless of available funding from the state," Commissioner Scott Martin said, reading from the resolution passed by his board.

"These cuts impact an array of services important to Lancaster County, including the human services safety net that supports county residents in need, the judicial system and public safety, community and economic development, the environment and industries such as tourism and agriculture."

According to Martin, the human services provided by the county "are going to take a hit across the board" in terms of state funding.

These services — many of which are mandated by the state — fall under the jurisdiction of county agencies such as Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Early Intervention, Office of Aging and Children and Youth Services.

"When we run through our state allocation for one of these mandated services, anything we do beyond that is paid for 100 percent by county taxpayers," Martin said. "If the state cuts its allocation, who picks up the difference? County taxpayers."

Martin said he'd like to see the state government "pay for the mandates they've handed down to us first, and then look at other programs and services and figure out what they can afford."

"In tough times, it's good that government gets back to its core responsibilities," he said. "Number one is the safety of the people and number two is to absolutely help those that cannot help themselves."

Cuts in state funding are compounded in Lancaster County, said Jim Laughman, head of the county's MH/MR/EI department, because demand for services here is increasing.

For example, in October, there were 3,175 county residents receiving mental health services from Laughman's office.

As of April, that figure had climbed to 3,304, and Rendell's budget plan calls for a 2 percent reduction in the base funding for mental health services. S.B. 850 proposes even more cuts on top of that.

"Our need is increasing, but our money is dropping," Laughman said.

The commissioners said they recognize the challenges the economy is posing for state lawmakers as they work on the 2009-10 budget.

And they said as bad as the financial picture is this year, things look worse for two years from now, when the millions in federal stimulus funds being pumped into the state are expected to dry up.

Now is the time to cut unnecessary spending, the commissioners said.

"That means every legislator looking at every program and determining what's important and what's not," Lehman said.

Doing that will require Democrats and Republicans to work together for the good of all of Pennsylvania.

It's time to "put aside partisanship … do the right thing in Harrisburg," Stuckey said. "It's a tough time and in these difficult times … we've all got to work together to solve these problems."

E-mail: preilly@lnpnews.com