The looming state shutdown has hit close to home.

The Mower County board voted unanimously Tuesday morning to put roughly 39 state-funded county employees on involuntarily leave in the event of a state shutdown. If the unions do not approve the motion, those employees will be laid off.

Local 9 approved the motion yesterday. AFSCME, the union for social services, is expected to meet today.

Twenty-six human service employees, 13.355 public health workers and a 0.5 environmental service employee — about half of human services and public health — would be placed on leave, which means they would still get insurance, but would have to use paid time off or vacation time.

“This is not a position that any of us want to be in,” board Chairman Tim Gabrielson said.

The question is simple, according to County Coordinator Craig Oscarson: How much of the risk — or state funding — does the county want to take on? The answer is much more difficult, he noted.

If the state shuts down, the county will be at risk of losing an estimated $220,000 a month in state reimbursements for county employees, which there’s no guarantee the state will pay, according to Oscarson. But, Gabrielson and the board expressed fear this could last longer than the state’s previous shutdown.

“This is not like 2005,” Gabrielson said. “They are so far apart up there. Nobody wants to budge.”

Ultimately, the board decided not to place state costs on the shoulders of the county and its taxpayers.

“I am not willing … to take this financial risk, because I don’t think we can afford to,” Gabrielson said.

Most fingers were pointed at the state for putting the county commissioners in this position.

“We elected them to do a job up there, and they haven’t done their job,” Commissioner Jerry Reinartz said.

At the same time, the department heads called on the board to delay the decision to take employees off work until the state released more information about the shutdown.

“If you wait two weeks, you could do it then,” public health Director Margene Gunderson said.

Gunderson urged the board to delay the decision, noting the county is already capable of recapturing funding dating back 12 months. But, the county can’t seek payments if the employees don’t do the work.

“We can do some really creative things from now to the end of the year,” Gunderson said.

“I think it’s just a little too early,” she added.

Human Services Director Julie Stevermer also recommended waiting until more details come out about the shutdown.

“There are too many unknowns,” she said.

Many of more than a dozen county employees meetings expressed discontent with the motion.

However, there’s no guarantee the effected employees will be able to work. The state has indicated certain databases won’t be operational during the shutdown, according to Finance Director Donna Welsh.

“Can they continue to work if they’re on site if they cannot access their systems?” Welsh said.

Ultimately, the board approved a motion Commissioner Ray Tucker described as a message that the county is not going to fund state programs.

“If they don’t want to step up to the plate, they’re not going to be funded,” Tucker said. “Unfortunately, it’s make an awful impact on these three departments.”

The decision wasn’t an easy one for the board.

“I understand the turmoil your department will go through, but through the last few years, we have taken on more and more responsibility from the state’s pushing things back to the county that we have to fund,” Tucker said.

Tucker said it’s impossible for the shutdown not to impact state-funded employees and the public.

“It’s going to have an impact on everybody you serve, plus your own people,” Tucker said.

The solution could be simple, if the state resolves its budget dispute.

“We hope to god that these people up there get their act together,” Tucker said.