Development Authority Approves FY 18 Budget

The Stephens County Development Authority approves their FY 18 budget at their meeting Thursday.

The development authority’s budget includes $216,905 in revenues and $266,905 dollars in total expenses. This is after a $50,000 cut from the Stephens County Commission, which is the primary source of revenue for the authority’s annual budget, according to Development Authority Chairman, Brian Akin.

Akin expressed disappointment that no one from the development authority was contacted by the county commission in regards to these cuts and went on to ask how an organization can be expected to thrive with such large cuts, adding that the development authority has increasingly lost county funding in the last several years.

“How long can we expect any organization to survive, much less thrive with a cut of this magnitude? Not very long,” said Akin. “Compounding the problem is the fact that this is the sixth consecutive fiscal year that we have been asked to operate on a drastically diminished budget when compared to years past.”

Akin went on to say that in the past six years, county funding has been cut over 64 percent, meaning that for the last six years, the authority has only had 1/3 of the county funding that was provided in the six years before that.

According to Akin, the current year allocation for $150,000 is the lowest that the authority has received from the county in 20 years.

But despite these challenges, he said the development authority has continued their efforts.

“It’s important to point out that even though times have been tough at the development authority the past several years, our efforts to create jobs and investments in the community have never wavered,” said Akin. “Jobs are plentiful in Stephens County right now. Industries are expanding at this very moment, new houses are being built in the area and more are still needed. Infrastructure is expanding and that’s with the help of grants obtained by the development authority. We have lots of momentum building in the community right now and it’s not the time to pull back on our efforts, but if the county doesn’t get serious about funding the only organization in our county that is designed to promote economic development, our momentum will quickly fade.”

Akin said the development authority will carry on business as usual during the budget cycle, with expectations that the county make them a fiscal priority.

Whitlock said she will go over the development authority’s budget again to see if it’s possible to put any money back into it.