White County Commissioners given the chance to review and ask questions about a final budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year at a Monday night meeting.
The budget contains a $1.45 property tax rate, an estimated $20.6 million in revenue, and $20.9 million in projected expenditures. The gap of some $286,000 will be covered by fund balance. Although no commissioners questioned hot button issues, Budget Committee Chair Kyle Goff said he remains unsure if this proposal will pass full court next week.
“Now, I haven’t spoke to all the other commissioners, but we’ll put it up, we’ll see what happens,” Goff said. “If it does fail, unfortunately, we’ll bring it back to committee and we’ll continue to work on it. Let the other commissioners express their concerns and give us their thoughts and their feedback.”
A simple eight vote majority is required for the budget proposal to pass full court. Goff said if it fails, the committee will have to pass something by September 30 at the latest.
The new proposal includes a $4,000 raise for every county employee, which County Finance Director Chad Marcum said comes out to an additional $12.9 million in employee wages. In addition, longevity pay for employees who have worked for at least three years was included. It will cost the county some $173,000.
Those were two of the key issues debated between the proposals. Commissioner Becky Golden was the only one present who asked about the longevity pay, and nobody asked about the raises.
Another key topic debated throughout the process was the addition of a full time EMA Director. The Budget Committee agreed to include one in this proposal.
Goff said this budget process has been turbulent. Following a failed proposal in June and the difficult decisions made in the meantime, Goff said Monday’s meeting was a necessity.
“I think it was very important to have this special called meeting just to allow the other commissioners that aren’t on the committee to express their concerns, ask any questions they have,” Goff said. “And I think it was successful. Tonight, I think we got all the questions out that needed to be asked.”
Goff said one of the challenges has been finding common ground, he’s still unsure if they’ve found it.
“There seemed to be a gap between the Budget Committee’s thinking and the rest of the full commission,” Goff said. “And they have to vote on it, right? That’s why I think it was so important to get it in front of [the Commissioners] and let them ask any questions. We’ll see if any common ground has been found next week.”
The full court meeting will be held next Monday night at the White County Courthouse in Sparta. The meeting will begin at 6 pm, with a public comment session beginning at 5:30.
