CLAYTON • County Executive Charlie A. Dooley on Tuesday backed off his plan to close any county parks and said he had reached a compromise with members of the County Council to seek alternative cuts to balance the budget.

Dooley also withdrew his threats to close the county government's West County Satellite Office and to cut back on snow plowing in unincorporated subdivisions.

However, he said that at least 40 full-time county employees would be laid off as a step toward closing what he has said is a $10 million budget gap.

"I met with the council and we found some compromises that we all can agree on," Dooley said at Tuesday's regular council meeting in Clayton.

As to layoffs, he said: "That's the sad part. That's something that we still can't get away from."

Dooley said specifics for making up the $10 million budget shortfall had yet to be determined.

Tuesday marked the second time in recent months that the county executive has retreated from one of his proposals in the face of strong opposition from the council.

In September, he withdrew a call for a tax increase after Council Chairman Steve Stenger, D-South County, questioned financial statistics that Dooley had offered to support the request.

Dooley later admitted that he had supplied inaccurate financial data on the plan. He also publicly apologized and promised in the future to keep the council involved on major issues.

However, Dooley refused to characterize the latest budget development as a personal setback.

"This is not a defeat. This is a success," he said after the meeting.

In October, Dooley submitted a budget recommendation to members of the council that called for closing 23 of the county's 50 active parks, including Lone Elk, Greensfelder, George Winter and Fort Bellefontaine, and eliminating about 173 jobs, 81 of them full time. Most of the cuts were to be made in the parks department.

The proposal touched a nerve with the County Council and the public.

On Friday, Dooley had announced that the West County Satellite Office in Chesterfield would close permanently on Dec. 16

Stenger asserted that the threatened budget cuts represented Dooley's back-door effort to pressure the council into approving the tax increase that the county executive had failed to get in September.

The council overwhelmingly backed its chairman, vowing not to approve the budget without changes, even if it meant missing the Dec. 31 deadline.

Stenger also created a special budget committee, the first in memory, with the designated task of finding ways to close any budget gaps without resorting to park closures, layoffs or cuts in services.

Meanwhile, the issue galvanized the public, culminating on Nov. 15 when hundreds of protesters rallied in support of parks both outside and inside county government headquarters, overflowing the council chambers.

Dooley's decision Tuesday came hours after the special budget committee submitted its suggestions to him for cutting the budget without closing parks, laying off workers, raising taxes or cutting services.

Among the committee's cost-saving and revenue enhancing recommendations were:

• Eliminating 60 funded, but not filled, county positions, with potential savings of $4 million.

• Increasing sales and casino tax revenue projections by up to $2 million through 2012 (a recommendation that the council described as "both conservative and realistic").

• Delaying $4 million of the administration's $8.6 million in proposed capital expenditures next year, including putting off such purchases as $257,500 for new computer "tablet" devices for public works and $225,000 for a new voice mail system for county operations.

• And returning unspent, but appropriated, 2011 funds to the 2012 budget. In particular, the committee noted that the council had recently approved only $250,000 of an original request from the Economic Council for $750,000 that would cover the cost of setting up an Asian trade desk and an interactive website. "The difference amounted to $500,000 and that amount should be available to include in the 2012 budget," the committee's report stated.

The report also recommended such cost-saving actions as reducing the size of the county's pool car fleet; putting liens on personal property if booking fees at the county jail are not paid in six months; and reviewing usage of the third floor of police headquarters which, the report asserted, "is heated and cooled, yet it is rarely used."

Dooley said that he expected to follow some of the committee's recommendations. "I'm going to work together with the council over the next 12 months to find a long-term fix for this budget," he said.

After the meeting, Stenger was magnanimous in victory.

"This all took a lot of give and take and Charlie certainly made some moves that are in the best interests of the county and that's a good thing," he said.

However, Stenger continued to insist that layoffs should not be needed to balance the budget.

"Hopefully, we can have further discussions about the employees that are to be possibly laid off," he said. "I am confident that we can find ways to avoid that."

At Tuesday's meeting, the council submitted legislation for approving the budget. Stenger said he expected final approval of the budget ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline.