Programs Work to Maintain Operation After Budget Cuts

Many county programs are working to find ways to continue operating after receiving budget cuts from the county commission.

These cuts have forced several programs to cut back on many of the materials and services they offer.

Library Manager Emily McConnell said the library’s budget was cut by $20,000 dollars. This cut resulted in library employees not receiving a raise this year and cuts to materials.

McConnell said that due to support from Friends of the Library and a couple of other foundations as well as revenue from overdue fines, the public won’t experience too many changes when visiting the library.

“They might see lesser number of books on the shelves, fewer magazines, we will be ending one of our newspaper subscriptions, things like that,” said McConnell.

Another program that took a hit was the Toccoa-Stephens County Humane Shelter. Executive Director Jeff Roberts said that they too lost $20,000 in their budget.

Roberts said that the shelter will have to manage on a month-to-month basis moving forward.

“We’re going to have to manage it on a month-to-month basis, cutting and keeping costs contained because we don’t have an idea of where the cuts are going to come from because we don’t have any excess in the budget,” said Roberts.

According to Roberts, the shelter will be doing some additional fundraising efforts to help bring money in. He added that no changes have been made to the day-to-day operation of the shelter so the level of care for the animals will not change.

Roberts said that he understands the county’s budget cuts but it can become difficult to operate with low funds when caring for live animals.

Another program planning to do some additional fundraising is the senior center. Their Meals on Wheels program was cut by $25,000 dollars, which would be over half of the people they serve.

Senior Center Director Lisa Thomas said they sent out re-evaluation letters to see if anyone’s situation has changed to potentially adjust their numbers. However, no changes to the list are being made just yet as they are planning two new fundraisers to make up for their loss in funds.

“We are doing a fundraiser, a small one in the fall with our new greenhouse and we’re also planning a big one that’s coming up,” said Thomas. “We’re doing Dancing with the Stars and we have had great response for the ones we have asked so far. We have several of our prominent citizens that have agreed to dance and we’re just real excited about doing this.”

The senior center as a whole was also cut and lost one position.

Some other programs that received cuts include the development authority, the sheriff’s office, Northeast Georgia Community Concert and the recreation department.