Friday, January 8, 1999 |
Taxpayers are breathing easier this week after the Coweta County Board of Commissioners passed the 1999 budget without a tax increase. The $25.6 million general fund budget is the county's largest and is balanced. After public hearings on the budget, the commission decided to separate the state court clerk from the Clerk of the Superior Court and add two rookie firefighters to the fire fund's budget. The commission also added one employee to the Clerk of Superior Court's department. The commission decided not to adjust the sheriff's budget despite a call from Sheriff Mike Yeager to add personnel to his staff. Yeager said he needed 15 additional personnel, but the request went unheeded by the board. The sheriff's budget did grow by 9 percent from $6.09 million to $6.65 million to pay for raises and additional expenses expected to be incurred by the department this year. During the budget discussions, some residents asked the board to consider raising taxes to help pay for the sheriff's needs or using the county's nearly $18 million fund balance to help pay for the extra law enforcement costs. But members of the board, including Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter, reiterated the fact that they could not support a tax raise of any kind while they were in office. Hunter also rejected any notion of raiding the county's fund balance to pay for any personnel needs or capital projects. "This is the money that we use to fund the budget until taxes are collected later in the year," he said. The commission passed the budget unanimously and will examine the budget again in June to see if any adjustments need to be made.
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