Gov. Chet Culver is preparing to cut the state's general fund budget by 10 percent and the impact of his work may be felt in local schools, state parks and the two prisons in the Fort Dodge area.

But for now, state agencies are waiting to see what the budget fallout will be.

''You're looking at some pretty big impacts,'' said state Rep. McKinley Bailey, D-Webster City.

He and state Rep. David Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, agreed that all the public schools will get less state money.

The Fort Dodge Community School District has enough money to avoid any major budget cuts during this fiscal year. During Monday's Board of Education meeting, officials announced that about $1.9 million will be withdrawn from the cash reserve to offset the loss of state money.

The budget cut is certain to be felt in the Public Safety and Corrections departments. Tjepkes said personnel expenses paying state troopers and corrections officers accounts for a major portion of those departments' budgets.

''If it comes to layoffs naturally the risk factor to the general public increases,'' he said.

Lt. Kelly Hindman, the commander of Iowa State Patrol Post 7 in Webster County, said there is ''no finality'' to reports that 100 state law enforcement officers will be laid off.

The local post, Hindman said, has an authorized strength of 25 troopers. There are now 20 troopers assigned to the post.

Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections, said the agency doesn't have any information to release yet on how the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility and the North Central Correctional Facility in Rockwell City will be affected.

The impact on Brushy Creek State Recreation Area near Lehigh and other state parks in the area also remains a question mark.

Kevin Baskins, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the park system and other department programs may have some advantages in the current budget crunch. He said that's because just 8 percent of the department's budget comes from the state's general fund.

Baskins added that DNR staffers anticipated a ''significant cut would happen'' when they prepared the budget. Fees collected from campers were a strong source of revenue over the summer, he said.

The Department of Transportation will be nearly unscathed by the budget cuts because its money comes from the primary road fund and the road use tax fund. That means the department's crews will be working as normal throughout the Webster County area.

There is one program in the DOT that's part of the general fund, according to Lee Wilkinson, the director of the department's operations and finance division. That $1.5 million program provides grants to commercial airports like the one in Fort Dodge, for building projects. Wilkinson said $150,000 will be trimmed from the program.

Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net