One sign that these are tough budget times: Pierce County may cut hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to community groups and charities.

The details are yet to come. But County Executive Pat McCarthy has recommended cutting $565,000 in funding to outside groups as part of an $8 million spending reduction.

County Council members and the executive divvy up millions of dollars in such spending each year. This year’s budget includes $4.8 million for “miscellaneous current expenses,” which includes funding for the community groups. It’s a way for elected officials to fund what they say are worthy programs.

Council members clearly are uncomfortable with the idea of reneging on funding for those groups. At a retreat this morning, the council and the executive played a little ping pong on who will decide which groups get cut.

“Those are your choices to make,” McCarthy told the council when the issue initially came up.

Council members pressed the executive, asking if she would suggest specific cuts. Ultimately, McCarthy said her office would review spending placed in the budget by previous Executive John Ladenburg, while suggesting the council review its own spending on community groups.

“We’ll do our due diligence,” McCarthy said. “You do your due diligence.”

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Any cuts will be painful. Councilman Terry Lee, R-Gig Harbor, noted the groups spend the money up front and submit receipts to the county for reimbursement. He worried that some groups may already have spent money and are counting on reimbursement from the county.

“Should I tell people we’ve committed money to that the money might not be coming?” Lee asked.

“Yep,” McCarthy said. “I would.”

McCarthy said the community groups are worthy of funding. But she noted county departments are taking big cuts and taxpayers are suffering.

“We’re talking about people losing their jobs all around this county,” McCarthy said. “Everything gets put on the table.”