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County Council votes to restore funding for non-profit while imposing reduction in county employee take-home pay web posted March 18, 2009 EDGEFIELD – The Edgefield County Council held their first of three budget workshops Tuesday night with several elected officials offering their views on the budget cuts to their respective offices. Although those present stated they could continue the current level of service under the limitations placed, all officials stated they wanted to be sure their respective employees were protected. Magistrate Brenda Carpenter made her point very clear. “I hope this budget is not balanced on the backs of the employees,” she said. Others alluded to a rumor that there would be possible lay-offs. Judge Carpenter said the employees, all county employees, not just those in the Magistrate’s Office, “should be considered at the highest level” during the budget process and that the county council should look deeper in the budget for the, “cookies and potato chips”, or wasteful spending, before looking at losing any county employee. Clerk of Court Shirley Newby said her office could operate under the restrictive budget, “to avoid any lay-off”, but if she lost an employee the function of the office would be severely hindered. A statement that was echoed by all elected officials present. County Council Chairman Monroe Kneece said the budget situation was the worst he has seen in his 22 years on the council, “I’ve never seen anything like this,” but wanted to bring an end to the false rumors circulating the county government complex that there was going to be lay-offs. The “rumors” began circulating after County Administrator John Pettigrew released an internal memo last week to elected officials and department heads stating employees were going to have to start paying just under $95 a month for health insurance as a way to avoid eliminating jobs or furloughs. Under the proposed budget, employees are facing a cut in their benefits to the tune of $121,124 that will result in the deduction from their paychecks. Sheriff Adell Dobey spoke and asked that the county council find a way to prevent charging the county employees for insurance. Administrator Pettigrew explained the serious revenue shortfalls for the county for the coming fiscal year that is forcing the county to find ways to trim roughly $400,000 from the budget. The first major revenue reduction is the proposed $254,000 cut in the Local Government Fund (LGF – also known as the aid to subdivisions by the state). Mr. Pettigrew explained that revenues from building permits (est. $62,000 less) by the state, deed stamps and other associated fees (est. $64,000 less), and interest income derived from county funds invested (est. $150,000 less) diminishing is severely hindering coming up with a balanced budget. Chairman Kneece read off $168,000 in funding to be removed from the budget for non-governmental agencies and non-profits and pointed out the contingent from the Tompkins Library that was present. He asked for any discussion on the matter at which time Councilman Norman Dorn made a motion to restore the $17,500 in funding they requested. The motion was quickly seconded by Councilman Bright and Chairman Kneece asked if there was any further discussion and called for a vote. Mr. Pettigrew interjected and asked where Mr. Dorn expected to find the additional money to provide for the funding. “We’ll find that later,” Chairman Kneece said. The vote to restore the funding passed by a 3-2 majority with council members Rodney Ashcraft and Genia Blackwell voting no. Councilman Ashcraft said he could not support the measure until he sees where the funding to support the measure was made available. Recreation also became a topic of discussion when some questioned why so many necessary functions of county government offices have been targeted for cuts but recreation was still funded. Mr. Pettigrew explained that the current budget eliminates an employee in the recreation budget which accounts for the majority of a roughly $60,000 cut in funding. Currently the budget is set at $233,000, of which taxpayers provide $163,698. Judge Carpenter spoke up again stating that she felt recreation was one of the “cookies and potato chips” that could and should be trimmed before placing a larger burden on the county employees. A cut to the Voter Registration Office for a digital scanner that would convert paper voter registration forms into computer accessible files for easier access and provide a back up in case of fire, previously sought at $10,000, was deleted. The program could be provided at a cost of under $5,000 according to the most recent projections. The council chose to take the matter in as information. The Road Maintenance fee for auto registrations was raised from $10 to $20 to fully fund the roads and bridges department. Councilman Dorn objected saying the increase disproportionately affected lower income citizens and he would have his "people" at the next work session to oppose the fee. With no other discussion the meeting was adjourned. The budget will be on the agenda for a first reading at the County Council’s April 7 meeting. The next budget workshop will be held at 6 pm on April 21. A public hearing will also have to be held to receive comments from the public. That date has not been announced at this time. © Copyright 2009
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