The local museum board will work this week to prepare its budget for the next fiscal year, with the hope that there will be no more cuts than were made last year.

“It has been strongly implied there will be no increases whatsoever, ” John Gilbert, manager of the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum, said during the county museum board's meeting Monday.

“There are no cutbacks, which I am happy with, ” he added later.

Bud Baldwin, board chair, and board member Gary Wilson both said a donation from the Clack family to the museum board still would be available for the next year,

“Thanks to the Clacks there will be some extra funding for the museum, ” Baldwin said.

Gilbert said if the museum can stay with last year’s budget level, it is an improvement over last year.

In 2010, the county commission originally asked for two budget proposals, one with a 5-percent cut from 2009 and another with a 10-percent cut. The final budget was a 48-percent cut, he said.

“Which was a shocker, ” Gilbert added.

The county found an additional $1,500 it could put back, but the cuts still were severe.

The descendants of H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack later made the donation, to help offset the budget cuts for last year and this year.

Gilbert said the county clerk and recorder also is requesting information on any revenue generated by county operations, including from grants and from operations like the museum gift shop.

Elaine Morse, chair of the museum foundation, asked if the revenue estimated would be used to reduce the county’s funding the budget.

“If that’s what they tell you, John, just make sure you are very conservative on your gift shop estimates, ” she said.

Commissioner Jeff LaVoi said this morning that the amount would not be reduced based on projected revenue. Asking for projected revenue is a standard procedure, he said.

“Any time we put together a budget, we have to look at everything, ” he said.