Saving jobs is

Virginia just got the news that state revenues fell 15.6 percent in May.

And the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors is asking the Virginia Department of Transportation to continue operating a relic of history, the Hatton Ferry, for just another few days.

A few days’ reprieve is reasonable.

For the longer term, the Hatton Ferry should be funded chiefly by private donations.

The ferry across the James near Scottsville may be the last poled ferry in the United States.

It began operating in the late 1870s and was taken over by VDOT in the 1940s, according to the Albemarle Historical Society. It runs during the summer as a free service.

Its existence has been threatened at least once in modern history: In the 1970s, Hurricane Agnes destroyed the ferry, but a public campaign persuaded VDOT to reopen the ferry service.

Another flood sank the ferry in the 1980s, but VDOT replaced it.

Then came a different sort of deluge — the recession of 2009.

Long before this week’s news of still declining revenue, VDOT announced it would drop ferry service as a cost-cutting measure.

The move makes sense.

In addition to maintenance costs, VDOT spends up $21,000 a year to operate the ferry (less in dry summers when low water flow curtails service).

That’s not much by some measures. But it may be the equivalent of a highway worker’s job. And when VDOT is cutting jobs — with more layoffs to come — any effort to save employment is worthy.

Of course history is worth saving, too. This newspaper has supported many historic preservation projects in the past.

But we have reached the point where we may not be able to have both — at least, not with state money. VDOT is right to cut loose any marginal program in order to save jobs and core services.

The Board of Supervisors has voted to keep the ferry going with local tax money given to VDOT to keep the service going. But supervisors cannot allocate the money until July 1, and by VDOT’s original plan the ferry will be discontinued on June 30.

It is not unreasonable to ask VDOT to continue the ferry for a few days until county money can kick in.

Better yet, though, would be an immediate private donation that would serve the same purpose.

And, ultimately, full private funding would be the ideal answer.