The current slashing of Local Government Aid in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unallotment effort to balance the budget may not be the end.

Owatonna officials fear another LGA cut could come in December, reports the Owatonna People's Press, after word at last week's League of Minnesota Cities’ annual convention that more grief lies ahead.

“I’m not a prognosticator of gloom and doom, but sometimes that does happen,” said Council Member Les Abraham, who attended the convention.

“They let us know that the horizon is not very bright,” agreed City Administrator Kris Busse. “It’s hard to know what will happen, but they told us to be prepared because this may not be the ceiling; it may be the floor.”

Owatonna already expects to lose $450,000 in LGA from the current unallotment. And city officials remember 2008, when a  state deficit was announced and Pawlenty unalotted $500,000 in LGA headed to Owatonna just one week before the check was due.