The Mower County commissioners, like other governing bodies in Minnesota, have some tough decisions to make about how they will fund services and employees' salaries in the coming years. State budget cuts have made local governments take a step back and look at their budgets and where they're spending money.

The county reportedly has $34 million in reserves, although some of the money has been designated for certain funds, according to county officials.

But an exact number was not revealed at Wednesday's discussion. After designating funds, the county has between $15 million and $17 million left in undesignated reserves.

County residents and departments should be able to know exactly where roughly $19 million in reserves has be designated.

Figuring out where this money has been set aside also will help the county analyze where it's spending its money.

The reserves could be used to help departments that lost state funding, such as Human Services. Representatives from that department said they cannot help the people that need it without county support. At least 2,500 county residents could be adversely affected by state budget cuts.

The county should be there to help that department and others who face state cuts.

Prioritizing where they want to spend their money will help commissioners make sure the county's services don't diminish.