FRANKFORT — Gov. Paul Patton said the state will get some money from obscure funds, juggle a little bit, make some cuts in agencies and hope for better times to deal with the latest budget problems.

        Education, from kindergarten to colleges and universities, will avoid the budget ax once again, but that may not last. “There may come a time when we cannot spare education,” Mr. Patton said during a news conference Friday.

        That time may come as soon as December. Mr. Patton said the administration will delay implementing about $35 million of the revenue shortfall until new estimates can be made.

        “There's sort of a vague hope that maybe it won't be as bad as it appears now,” Mr. Patton said. “The likelihood is it'll be worse.”

        The cuts and moves announced Friday are the fourth round the state has taken during this two- year budget cycle to deal with revenue receipts that have fallen far short of estimates.

        The revenue shortfalls, plus overly optimistic budget plans that spent more money than the state was actually expecting, totaled out to budget cuts of $180 million last fiscal year and another $533 million this year. This year's budget shortfall is the largest in the state's history.

        The biggest piece of the revisions announced Friday were a plan to take $50 million from a fund that finances the cleanup of old underground storage tanks, and savings from debt service of about $47 million.

        State agencies, including the judicial and legislative branches, will have to cut 2 percent from their budgets, which should account for about $52 million more.

        Mr. Patton said state agencies will have a relatively free hand to deal with their cuts as they see fit, including layoffs of state workers.

        “If they have to do layoffs, then we'll consider that,” he said. “We don't want to. We can't guarantee that won't be one of the results.”

        If layoffs come, Mr. Patton said they would likely be “minimal and isolated.”

        No details were available on what agencies will do to get spending in line. “They were just told at 10 o'clock today,” Mr. Patton said of his cabinet meeting.

        The agencies other than education were asked to cut 3 percent of their spending to meet the first round of cuts this year.

        Budget cuts are made more difficult by keeping education off the table.

        Depending on how it is counted, state aid to education eats up 60 percent to 70 percent of General Fund spending of about $7 billion this year.

        Many of the actions taken to balance the budget have not been spending cuts. The result is that the state's spending problems could land like a thud with legislators when the General Assembly tries to put together a spending plan for the two fiscal years beginning July 1, 2002.

        For example, the state will save some debt service payments by delaying them until next year. Other savings in the area have been realized with lower-than-ex pected interest rates that are true savings.

        Other actions have been like the $50 million taken from the underground storage tank fund, which is financed by a 1.4 cent per gallon tax on gasoline. The money finances cleanup of old tanks, and there was about $107 million on hand at the beginning of this fiscal year, budget director James Ramsey said.

        “One time money, I'll say it again,” Mr. Patton warned.

        Mr. Patton said previous budget cuts have included education, which is part of the reason the state still lags behind in preparing its population.

        Council on Postsecondary Education President Gordon Davies said he understands the burden on colleges and universities to use the money wisely.

        “They take it not as a privilege but as a sign of responsibility,” Mr. Davies said.

        Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit said public schools will try to be good stewards. “We know we have a responsibility,” he said.

        “As difficult as things are, we just don't need to go backwards,” Mr. Patton said.

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