Wednesday, June 27, 2001
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Wednesday, June 27, 2001 |
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Called meeting set for budget loose ends By DAVE
HAMRICK Fayette County commissioners will revisit a few issues before voting Thursday night on a proposed $65.45 million budget. A called meeting is set for 5 p.m., with the regular meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex. Commissioners reportedly will revisit their decision to no longer provide $25,000 in support to the Keep Fayette Beautiful organization, and will again discuss proposed salary increases for the Board of Elections. A $31,000 addition to cover the upcoming special election runoff also will be on the table. The county's governing board last week conducted 13 hours of workshop meetings, whittling away a little here and adding a little there, with the result of increasing the staff's proposed budget by almost $200,000. The decision to end support for KFB came in a 2-1 vote with Commissioner Herb Frady absent. The board currently is operating with only four members, with a special election runoff to replace Harold Bost, who resigned last week, scheduled for July 10. Three votes out of the current four members would be required to restore the organization's budget. The decision to drop it brought a sharp rebuke from Keep Fayette Beautiful volunteer Ginger Blackstone. "I'm stunned," she told commissioners last week. "I really feel like I've been slapped in the face." Also during budget workshops, commissioners discussed whether the members of the Board of Elections qualify as registrars. If they do, they're entitled to raises under a new state law. Most counties have only one registrar, commissioners said. At Thursday's meeting, they'll have legal advice to help make that decision. Some high points of the proposed budget include: A $3.9 million balloon payment in addition to the regular $700,000 annual payment to pay off the mortgage on the Administrative Complex. With interest rates on the county's surplus funds running low, it has become profitable to take the money out of investments and pay off the debt on the County Administrative Complex, said finance director Mark Pullium. County government purchased the failed Stonewall Village office complex in December 1990 for just under $7 million, and spent about a million dollars to renovate the facility to use as county offices. "By paying off Stonewall, we can save $600,000 interest," said Pullium. Commissioners said they also are pleased about no longer having to make the $700,000 annual payments. Money is available because revenues were slightly higher and expenditures slightly lower than the 2001 budget anticipated, said Pullium. A new $2 million capital projects fund that forms the framework for a future five-year capital improvement program. Included in this year's program is $230,000 for recreation improvements, including money to resurface all of the county's ball fields. There's also a $991,000 capital fund for roads, with plans to increase from 27 to 45 the number of miles to be resurfaced. Cost of living adjustments of 3.4 percent for employees, along with an average of about 3 percent for merit increases. Increases in the contingency fund to prepare for possible energy cost increases, and for funding possible employee pay adjustments to keep local jobs competitive with those in other nearby counties. A market study is underway to compare local salaries with those insurrounding areas. If the commission approves, the general fund contingency will go from $400,000 this year to $1.2 million next year, and a new $320,000 contingency fund will be created for fire services as well. $870,000 to pay for sending Fayette County Jail inmates to a Union City jail to avoid overcrowding in the local jail. The proposed budget is more than 7 percent higher than the adjusted 2001 $60.97 million budget, but no increase in the property tax rate is anticipated. Taxes will increase as a result of state-mandated value adjustments, and public hearings will be required because of that.
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