Some unhappy about proposed budget in Forsyth

Several speakers and a few officials have made it clear they want changes in the proposed 2009 county budget. The first public hearing on the proposed budget, which includes potentially cutting 23 from the county's workforce, sparked interest and a packed meeting room at the Forsyth County Administration Building Dec. 4. The second public hearing is scheduled to be held Dec. 18 when the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will potentially vote on the $86.7 million budget.

Interim County Manager Doug Derrer said the $103 million revenue expected in 2008 had fallen to an expectation of $86.7 million (a decrease of 16.4 percent). He said staff worked hard to present the board a balanced proposed budget.

Several representatives from the county departments and the general public came before commissioners to express their opinions on the proposed budget.

Some said they wanted to dip into the county's reserve to provide at least a cost of living raise to all county employees. Others questioned whether the budget had been cut lean enough.

Sheriff Ted Paxton said he was concerned over the issue of the county's reserve amounting to 25 percent of the county's total budget.

"With a proposed budget of $87 million in 2009," he said, "you have $32 million in reserve. That's far in excess. As a taxpayer, if you don't need my money except to let it sit in an account, I'd appreciate you adjusting my tax payment."

If commissioners cannot find the money to provide at least the cost of living raise or merit increase to all county employees, Paxton said he would "challenge" all departments to cut their budgets to provide this raise.

"I would be willing to do that to give at least the cost of living increase or merit increase if you will not do it yourself," he said.

Commissioner David Richard said the county should be careful of dipping into the reserves.

"2009 is just the beginning of the storm," he said. "In 2010, our tax digest is going to go down for the first time in decades. [The reserves are] not for this rainy day. It's for the rainy day and perfect storm that could come in 2010."

Some speakers questioned items in the budget related to dues, training and travel. Richard said there were "some assumptions that were not correct."

"The board decided that certain people needed certification to do their jobs," he said. "They needed to maintain these certifications to continue to be as valuable as possible to this county. That means keeping the folks as well-trained as possible."

Regarding complaints of the potential loss of 23 county employees, Richard said the county cannot keep workers if there "is no work."

"I'd like to keep everyone employed," he said. "The cold, hard fact is that we are not a jobs program. If we do not have the work, we can't keep people on the payroll. We can't raise rates like a private program. We can raise taxes, but that's not a good idea in this economy."

However, Commissioner Linda Ledbetter said she is not happy with the prospect of losing county employees.

"I don't like it at all," she said. "In 2010, maybe I could see it, but let's wait until 2010. I don't like firing 23 people and I don't like not having a cost of living raise."

Ledbetter said it's crucial to take care of law enforcement, fire personnel and teachers by providing a cost of living increase.

"I want to see major changes in this budget," she said. "I think we can find a job for 23 people. I don't want to fire people at Christmas time. Maybe next year we'll have to do it, but at least they'll see it coming. Nobody saw this coming."

But Richard said more jobs could be cut from the budget.

"I'm not satisfied with the budget," he said. "There are other positions that are not addressed here that I don't think we should be keeping. I think there are enough tweaks we could make in this budget that we could find enough for the 3 percent merit increase. It'll be hard work, but it's possible."
- www.northfulton.com

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