By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BIG BONE - During the 16 years that Odell Berry has lived on Cleek Lane his water has come from the sky, the store or the back of a truck.

In this corner of southwestern Boone County near Big Bone Lick State Park folks don't have "city water," a rural reference to public water lines that connect directly to homes and businesses.

Residents like Berry wait for rain to fill cisterns, contract with water haulers and buy bottled water at the store.

"We're used to it, but it gets to be a little bit of a problem sometimes," said Berry, 71, a retired contractor and farmer. "It's sure not as convenient as city water."

So Berry was elated earlier year when state Sen. Dick Roeding, a Lakeside Park Republican, inserted $300,000 in the state's two-year budget for a water line extension to the Cleek Lane area.

But the excitement has turned to frustration. Lawmakers in Frankfort haven't passed a budget, and may not do so because of partisan differences.

And no budget means no water for Cleek Lane.

For thousands of Kentuckians like Odell Berry the General Assembly's budget impasse is more than a headline in the paper or a faraway fight between politicians.

It has real consequences for teachers, students, state employees and the people who live on and around Cleek Lane.

"It is extremely important that we have a budget," said Rep. Paul Marcotte, a Republican from Union, also involved in securing money for the Cleek Lane water line.

"When we don't, as we are seeing now, it really affects people's lives," he said.

Cleek Lane was not the only area of the county slated for water service. The state budget proposed spending $2.3 million to extend water lines throughout the county, said Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore.

"We were excited when we saw the Senate version of the budget," Moore said. "These are areas of the county I really want to get water into. But people are going to be disappointed if the projects don't happen this year."

The budget stalemate is hard on others, too.

Ask public school teachers. Without a new allocation of dollars, teachers' annual raises are in jeopardy and their health care costs are likely to increase.

But the ability to plan for the next school year, or even make career moves, are also put on hold, said Tim Schneider, an eighth-grade science teacher at Campbell County Middle School in Alexandria.

"This has put us in limbo," said Schneider, 39, whose wife, Donna, also teaches at Riley Elementary in southern Campbell County. "You can't really plan for next year because you aren't sure how much money the school is going to have and how many kids you're going to likely have in your class."

This is the legislature's second budget impasse in three years. If lawmakers don't return to Frankfort to pass a budget by July 1, Gov. Ernie Fletcher has said he will implement his own spending plan. That plan is likely to be challenged in court. If so, Fletcher has said as many as 5,000 of the state's 38,000 employees may be laid off if he can't increase at least some spending.

Campbell Middle School Assistant Principal Dave Sandlin said the school has lost four teaching positions through previous budget cuts.

"Those cuts trickle down into the classrooms, because when you cut positions class sizes increase," Sandlin said. "But what really hurts about (the budget) is the uncertainty. We have planning to do and we can't really wait until July."

To protest the state's inability to pass a budget Campbell County Board of Education member Mike Combs voted against the district's budget last week.

"We are required by law to pass a budget for the upcoming year, but since the state doesn't have a budget, whatever we do is tentative," Combs said. "All 176 school districts have to spend a substantial amount of time on preparing these make-believe budgets."

Without a budget, several large higher education projects in Northern Kentucky face delays. Budget proposals include more than $100 million for projects that include an arena, parking garage and student union at Northern Kentucky University and an expansion of Gateway Community and Technical College's Edgewood campus.

Fletcher's spending plan almost certainly will not include money for major projects.

"It's a setback," said Gateway President Dr. Ed Hughes.

The school was set to receive $14 million to expand its nursing school and up to $500,000 to open its Boone County campus.

"We won't be able to train as many nursing students if we don't expand," Hughes said. "And if we don't get money for Boone County, we won't be able to open next April.

"We don't want to whine," he said. "But there are implications when we don't have a budget to work with. It affects our students and their education."

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com