Forsyth might cut 26 jobs

County staff has been in the midst of crunching numbers for the 2009 budget. And the results show county jobs might be cut.

Forsyth County Interim County Manager Doug Derrer said staff has been working to bring a balanced budget proposal before Dec. 18 when commissioners are expected to approve it at the 5 p.m. meeting. Due to increasingly grim economic forecasts, the revised proposed FY 2009 budget is $84.1 million compared to the previously proposed $86.7 million budget.

The proposed budget now calls for the loss of 26 county positions (instead of the previously proposed 23) as well as an additional five percent reduction across the board for all departments. The affected departments including planning, engineering and code enforcement.

However, Derrer said other county positions will be studied before any additional decisions are made in reference to the county staff.

Commission Chairman Charles Laughinghouse said the staff has done a great job the past few weeks "and should be commended."

Forsyth County and the rest of Georgia as well as the entire nation is coping with a different economy this year compared to last. Taking November 2007 and 2008 as a comparative example, Forsyth County Chief Financial Officer Bill Thomas said sales tax was down 14 percent, motor fuel taxes down 7.4 percent and corporate taxes down 38.4 percent throughout the state.

"Retail sales has shown the biggest drop in 39 years," he said.

In addition to the elimination of jobs, the proposed budget also includes no cost of living or merit increases for current employees and no funding for currently vacant positions.

Commissioner David Richard described this as a "good news, bad news" situation.

"The good news is that we haven't adopted a budget, yet," he said. "The retail projections we are getting right now are a little less rosy. All are showing decreases more than what we thought. I think this budget is more realistic than before and it reflects the best numbers we have."

Laughinghouse said there has been a large downturn in retail.

"The fall off in retail is greater than anyone expected," he said.

The decreasing revenue has resulted in a proposed budget that has changed several times. Commissioner Linda Ledbetter said she has a problem with the continuing changes.

"Since we met the last time," she said, "we have had an increase in lost jobs. We keep dragging this out and the budget will be $50 million."

If the budget is adopted Thursday, the county will be keeping an eye on the local fiscal situation. Laughinghouse said the commissioners will receive monthly budget updates in 2009.

Richard said this was "not a good time for Forsyth County."

"We are in the middle of a terrible economic time," he said. "The reality is that we can't ignore it. We can't stick our head in the sand and hope it goes away."
- www.northfulton.com

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