The Fayette County Commission signed off on the county’s $79 million budget June 28, but it was not the usual unanimous affirmation of the process.

Instead, Commissioner Peter Pfeifer once again reiterated his opposition to the budget and said the county was being fiscally irresponsible. Pfeifer’s main target was the nearly $3 million in raises given to the county’s employees after a recent salary study.

But Chairman Jack Smith had a different take on the budget. Smith said that this year’s budget was 6.1 percent less than last year, and then he addressed the salary issue.

“Seventy-four percent of the county’s workforce earns under $50,000 per year. The average increase for those employees is 1.5 percent,” Smith said.

He added that he thought it was sad that statistics were used to cloud the issue.

Smith added that this year’s budget was done openly and ran smoothly.

Still, Pfeifer was not happy about the pay raises, and was the dissenting vote against the budget.

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