County Commission Makes More Changes to Budget

The Stephens County Commission makes more changes to the proposed FY 18 budget during their meeting yesterday.

Back in March, the commission agreed to fund a new bus for the senior center, however, at their work session last week, they decided that the cost of a new bus needed to be cut back in the budget. Instead they decided to allocate funds for renting a charter bus.

However, at yesterday’s meeting, Commissioner Dean Scarbrough said that he doesn’t feel that it’s right to go back on their word.

“All five of us sat here and agreed that would be a good use for part of the money that we got from the sale of the Goodwill building because it would help some of our citizens that really depend on the senior center for a lot of their socialization,” said Scarbrough. “Getting out, traveling and being around other people are some of the best things for helping our senior citizens. I just think this is an opportunity for us to get a good, dependable bus for our seniors.”

Executive Director of the Senior Center Lisa Thomas addressed the commission, saying that the seniors do have concerns about not getting a new bus.

“A lot of the seniors are on board with the motor coach but the concern is in upcoming years, they’re afraid that the funding that we have right now will be lost,” said Thomas.

With the cost of a new bus going back into the budget, Chairman Debbie Whitlock proposes raising the millage rate to 1.5 mills to cover the cost because she believes it’s imperative to take care of their employees.

“We go back to our employees,” said Whitlock. “These are people that have been here and been loyal through all the hard times and seen their paycheck go down. These are bright, qualified people who had to go somewhere else because they could make more money, they were left with no choice.”

Full-time county employees are receiving a 5 percent salary increase, part-time employees getting a 2 percent increase and the county will be funding the increase in insurance coverage as well as providing a 3.5 percent retirement match for their employees.

All the program cuts made by the commission are a result of no new revenues for 2018. During yesterday’s meeting, Commissioner Whitlock also made several suggestions for revenues in the future, including Sunday sales, business licenses and building permit fees.

The next public hearing for the FY 18 budget will be June 27 at their regularly scheduled meeting. The commission will continue to work on the budget until that date.