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Caroline prepares to approve budget

Caroline makes final trims, ready to approve budget

BY SHAYNA JACOBS

Date published: 6/19/2008

BY SHAYNA JACOBS

Caroline County supervisors are finally ready to approve a budget for the coming fiscal year after what officials agree was an especially lengthy and difficult process.

Approval was slated for this week's meeting, but it was set back because of recent changes to the spending plan. The board is now scheduled to approve the roughly $90.2 million budget next Tuesday.

"This was the most difficult budget I've had to put together--there's no question," said County Administrator Percy Ashcraft, who has held the post for nine years.

When the process began in April, supervisors were faced with a $1 million dollar hole. They made up most of that with a 5-cent real-estate tax increase, to 53 cents per $100 of assessed value.

They spent the past several weeks bridging a remaining gap of nearly $212,000. About $160,000 of that was found to be a bookkeeping misread, duplicating a staff salary line.

"There are different philosophies on this board," Supervisor Bobby Popowicz said. "Some see taxes as a way of cutting expenses. I'm of the mind-set that we need to bolster industry and business."

"In my nine years, this was the most difficult budget of all," Supervisor Maxie Rozell said. "The revenue shortfalls were not up to our expectation."

Schools will probably get a $620,000 increase over the $11.3 million in local funding this fiscal year. The School Board requested a $3 million increase.

At Tuesday's meeting, the board also approved an $8 million bond to refinance an existing bond and make general utility improvements.

Ashcraft said the county will not lay off any workers, but it is not filling any vacancies. That includes the public works director's position, saving $130,000.

Supervisors also reduced funding for Caroline's Pro-mise by $3,000 in the budget, which takes effect July 1.

Commonwealth Attorney's Tony Spencer asked the board to allot money to hire another attorney in his department. Supervisors said local funding to help cover the position is in the budget.

"There so many things I could do if I had one more person," he said, adding that important cases are pending as his staff is consumed with more immediate charges.

Shayna Jacobs: 540/374-5000, ext. 5617
Email: sjacobs@freelancestar.com

At County Administrator Percy Ashcraft's suggestion, Caroline supervisors tentatively agreed to hold a planning retreat in September. Ashcraft said it has been 15 years since the board last held a retreat. He said there's a need for planning at a time when rising fuel and utility costs make budgeting a difficult task. The retreat is also to help acclimate the new board members to the budget process. Two of the five supervisors are newly-elected, replacing veterans.

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Date published: 6/19/2008