Wednesday, June 18, 2003
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Wednesday, June 18, 2003 |
Commission debates Dev. Auth. budgetBy JOHN
THOMPSON
Fayette's residents will have one more chance to comment on the county's $44.3 million budget before it's put to bed for the year. Last Thursday, the Fayette County Commission conducted their first public hearing on the budget and got into a minor tiff over the Development Authority's budget. Earlier in the week, the County Commission had cut the authority's budget request from $327,000 to $284,000. The commission had cut a $25,000 request for funds for the Clayton State higher education center in the county, and also cut $18,000 from the budget because of a rent dispute. Commissioners Herb Frady and Linda Wells maintained the Development Authority owes the county $18,000 a year for rent it receives from the Chamber of Commerce for use of the old courthouse. Commissioner Peter Pfeifer agreed, and the commission cut the budget Wednesday. But Thursday, Pfeifer said he had been "misinformed" about some items and proposed raising the authority's budget to the current year's budget of just over $304,000. Commission chairman Greg Dunn agreed with Pfeifer's motion. "They are helping people who lose their jobs and we need economic development here," he said. Wells had a far different assessment of the situation. "Every year, there's a special request. We keep giving them more and more. They're supposed to be self-supporting," Wells said. Wells' stand went down in flames by a 3-2 vote with Dunn, Pfeifer and VanLandingham supporting the increase of the budget. The general fund budget proposed for this year is $44,339,487, which is more than $300,000 less than last year's budget. The final hearing on the budget is June 26 at 7 p.m. at the Fayette County Administrative Complex.
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