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LAUREL DRULEY: Local government aid to cities and counties would take the biggest hit. If legislators approve, many city administrators will have to come up with a new way to pay for police, sewer, parks, and other services. Some cities would take a disproportionate reduction. Towns like Winona rely heavily on state aid. Winona City Manager Eric Sorensen says in the last 15 years, Winona has cut a significant number of city jobs, while the state added 30% to its workforce.

ERIC SORENSEN: If he's true to his word, everybody should share in the pain. Then let's see that. Everybody should share in it, not just some of us. We have to cut into basic services because that's what we provide. We don't have any fluff.

LAUREL DRULEY: Rochester City Administrator Steven Kvenvold says the city would lose more than $2 million in state aid in 2002.

STEVEN KVENVOLD: I was disappointed in the size of the reductions and that our reductions were almost as big as Minneapolis and Saint Paul's. And obviously, we get very much smaller proportion of local government aid than do those cities.

LAUREL DRULEY: The size of the reduction is based on the cities' growth rate. Kvenvold says it seems Rochester is getting penalized for growing. Spokesman for the League of Minnesota Cities Eric Willette says some outstate city leaders wonder why they're being asked to shoulder such a large burden.

ERIC WILLETTE: In the last 10 years, during the economic boom times, the state general fund has increased by over 60%. But aid to local governments has hardly increased at all, maybe about 10% So we really didn't participate in the good times for the state when they had all the surpluses. And yet now we're being asked to shoulder what appears to be an even greater share of the pain than a lot of the state agencies.

LAUREL DRULEY: That puts local governments in a bind. Their only other option is to raise taxes. It's not just cities and counties looking at budget cuts. State agencies that rural residents rely on would also consolidate services.

The State Department of Human Services would move patients from the Ah-Gwah-Ching Nursing Home to a Brainerd facility. There's also a proposal to transfer patients from Fergus Falls and Willmar mental health centers to other locations. Those moves eliminate some staff jobs and require transfer for others.

Elaine Timmer, Department of Human Services spokeswoman, says the consolidation would affect support staff jobs. But it should not affect the care they provide.

ELAINE TIMMER: We are maintaining every single bed. And we'll have the same ability to serve all clients who were referred to the system as we were in the past. What we are focusing on is a way to get out from under the costs of maintaining surplus buildings in our system.

LAUREL DRULEY: Not only buildings need maintaining, improvements to rural roads and highways may be cut. At first glance, Ventura's plan to raise the gas tax seems like a good idea for roads. But many legislators say the money won't pay for improvements to the state's highways and bridges. The governor's plan is to route the money to the state general fund. Senator Keith Langseth, a DFL lawmaker from Glyndon, says the governor's plan to increase the state's gas tax by $0.05 a gallon should go toward improving roads.

KEITH LANGSETH: I think most people are willing to go with some gas tax increase if they know it will go for the roads that they're driving on. It is very much a user fee. You pull into the service station. You fill up your tank. You give them the money for the gas tax and then immediately back out on the road that you're paying for.

LAUREL DRULEY: City leaders, state nursing home workers, and transportation proponents all find flaws in the governor's plan to deal with the budget deficit. City and county officials aren't filling open positions. And they're postponing big equipment purchases. That may not be enough. So they're also considering cuts to services and staff. Laurel Druley, Minnesota Public Radio, Rochester.