More of the same: if the 2004 Lawrence County budget ends up looking very familiar, there is a good reason. County commissioners say it will likely be similar in size - and lack of funding - to the 2003 edition.

"It's going to be tight," Commission President George Patterson said.

Commissioner Jason Stephens said he expects to start work on the budget toward the end of the month, after the County Auditor's Office certifies the amount of money that will be carried over from 2003 into 2004.

"We also have to see what Workers Compensation will do to us," Commissioner Doug Malone said. "We hope to find out in the next couple of months."

In May of last year, the Ohio Workers' Compensation Oversight Commission approved a 9-percent average premium rate increase and announced that the employers will not receive the premium discounts many had grown accustomed to receiving. Since then, county officials have been bracing for premiums to increase from approximately $100,000 to an estimated $500,000. State officials blamed the sluggish economy and soaring health care costs as reasons for the premium hike and discontinuation of the discounts.

"We're going to start crunching numbers here in the next couple of weeks, but we don't see larger appropriations than last year," Stephens said.

Last year's general fund budget was $10,526,450.30. Officeholders had requested a total of $11,601,191.38. Commissioners asked officeholders to accept the same amount as what they received in 2002 due to the county's ailing financial health. This came after budget cuts the previous two years.

State law requires a budget to be in place by the end of March.