Helper function for databinder.eval returns conversion error

Hello Experts.

I have a DropDownList inside a DataRepeater that looks like this:

              <asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="ddlStat" SelectedValue=<%# funcLO(DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "ps_stat").ToString()) %> AppendDataBoundItems="true" >
                </asp:DropDownList>

The SelectedValue entry calls a helper function funcLO that looks like this:

    protected string funcLO(string strIn)
    {
        int intIn = int.Parse(strIn);
        int intOut = intIn - 1;
        string strOut = Convert.ToString(intOut);
        return strOut;
    }

Basically, all I want to do is subtract one from the SelectedValue that is returned from the DataBinder. When I run the code above I get a "Cannot convert type 'string' to 'int' error.

Thanks in advance.