Henry County adopts ‘difficult’ 2012 budget

Henry Herald:

Henry County’s new spending plan is being called, by local government leaders, the most difficult in recent memory.The Board of Commissioners adopted a budget of $112,452,443 for the 2012 fiscal year, during a called meeting Tuesday. The most difficult part of approving the budget was the expected layoffs of 57 county employees, according to Commission Chairman Elizabeth “B.J.” Mathis.

“The commissioners agonized over the final numbers, knowing that it meant job losses,” Mathis said. “That was not an easy decision. However, we must adopt a balanced budget that will provide needed services for the citizens as efficiently as possible, and we have done so without a millage increase.”

Several cost-cutting measures were used to close a nearly $15-million budget gap. They include using funds from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax program’s road-paving account to pay for road resurfacing, thereby allowing for the removal of $5.3 million from the county’s Department of Transportation budget. The budget also calls for using $2.2 million in excess funds in the county’s retirement account, according to Mathis.

“Those funding sources will be depleted after this year, creating a nearly $8 million gap going into the budget process for next year,” said Mathis. “Since we know that our budget is now as lean and mean as we can possibly make it, without affecting services, next year’s budget will not be any easier –– and more difficult decisions will have to be made.”

Mathis struggled to hold back tears, during the BOC meeting, as she talked with county workers in attendance about the impact the budget will have on them, and their families.

“I think what makes this most difficult, is because we know the employees, personally,” she said. “We’ve worked with you closely, and we know that this vote is going to affect you in a huge way, especially the ones that are losing their jobs. I don’t apologize for getting emotional, because I love the employees in this county, and I care about each and every one of you.”

District I Commissioner Warren Holder cast the lone dissenting vote against the budget. He said additional furlough days, could have helped to reduce the number of job losses facing county workers.

“Ninety percent of something, is better than 100 percent of nothing,” Holder said. “I think we’re going to have some employees — 57 of them — that are going to have the ‘nothing.’ I’m not a proponent for furlough days. I’m only saying that in hard times, things should be shared more. I just think that there were other options that we could have done, or could have used, to balance the budget.”

The adoption of the budget, Mathis added, is not the end of budget considerations. She said the BOC, on Wednesday, began looking forward to next year’s budget. “We know there will be a shortfall of $7 to $9 million in the 2012/2013 budget, and we cannot wait to begin that process until February or March,” she said. “Changes will be seen throughout the coming year, to help fill the gap that we know lies ahead of us.”

In addition to the 57 eliminated positions resulting from adoption of the 2012 budget, another 30 vacancies will remain unfilled, and nine county employees will be downgraded, from full-time, to part-time, according to county spokesperson, Julie Hoover-Ernst.

“It becomes incredibly difficult when you’re trying to maintain service-delivery levels for citizens, yet you know that with 70 percent of the county’s general fund budget being made up of payroll, you are going to affect people’s livelihoods. That was very, very difficult for the board to do.

“Working from an initial budget of $127.3 million, county officials, together with finance staff and department heads, went line item by line item to make responsible, permanent cuts through decreases in individual departments’ budgets across the board, layoffs, attrition, retirements, changes in benefits, and by eliminating vacant positions,” she said.

Two new fees are also included in the budget. Police reports will be made available at a cost of $10 for out-of-county residents, and $5 for in-county residents, Hoover-Ernst said. A new $25 fee will be required for out-of-county seniors to participate in activities at any of Henry County’s three senior centers.

“While the economy is showing some signs of recovery elsewhere, state and local governments are still facing shortfalls, because their budgets are always based on the previous year’s tax assessments,” Hoover-Ernst said. “As a prime example, Henry County suffered an unprecedented $1 billion drop in its property values in 2010, which left commissioners with a budget shortfall of $9.8 million for the fiscal year 2010-11 budget.

“ This year, the digest fell yet another $381 million, which translated into another $4.9 million in tax revenue declines. That amounts to a 25 percent reduction over three years.”

The adopted budget calls for furlough days for county employees, for a savings of $1.1 million, as well as a 50-percent reduction in what the county contributes to outside agencies. The county will also raise its hotel/motel tax to 8 percent, which is expected to generate about $125,000 in revenue