The Butler County commissioners have completed a big task in reaching a decision regarding Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

The county will not sell Sunnyview and will not hire a management company to oversee the facillity's day-to-day operation.

But although a decision on the home's fate has been made, a more difficult challenge lies ahead. That is the need to eliminate the red ink within which the facility has been immersed for years.

County taxpayers must hope Commissioner Dale Pinkerton was correct on Thursday when he said at a Sunnyview board meeting, "I believe it (a balanced budget) can be done."

If not, the issue of what the home's future might be will again have to be an agenda item for the commissioners. The taxpayers can't be regarded as a limitless money tree, no matter how difficult it might someday be to opt for another alternative.

While the county won't have an exact 2009 deficit figure until an internal audit is completed, it has been projected that the shortfall will be about $500,000.

Taxpayers who might be alarmed by that possibility need only look back to 2008 and 2007, when the facility recorded deficits of $1 million and $1.12 million, respectively.

Financial progress has been made but much more is necessary to balance incoming and outgoing funds.

Perhaps Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser summed up the situation best when he said, "We're not out of the woods yet."

The mood of county residents since the commissioners indicated that selling Sunnyview was a possibility seemed to rest with maintaining the status quo. There never was any surge of taxpayer opinion encouraging the sale option to go forward.

That's no doubt because, over the years, Sunnyview has built a solid reputation for providing excellent care. The overriding attitude is — and must continue to be — that such quality care not be jeopardized.

In making their decision, the commissioners decided on the side of the frail individuals who depend on the skills and professionalism of Sunnyview's workers. Those people who are in need of care can now be comforted knowing that uncertainties about the future need not be a concern for them or their families.

But money will remain an issue for the facility nonetheless, and the commissioners and home's management must commit themselves to uninterrupted efforts to control costs.