SNOW HILL — A few more budget surprises, including a $700,000 budget omission and another whopping state medical bill, has Greene County’s depleted budget looking grimmer.
The shortfall climbed to $745,076 — partly due to budget omissions — from $268,085 earlier this month.
“I did some other options that will drop it down to about $350,000,” Interim County Manager Richard Hicks said. He presented a few ideas to the commissioners at a meeting last week.
The board is considering furloughs and a 4.61 percent salary reduction from April through June that would amount to about $45,000 of savings.
Hicks said the salary reduction “basically comes out to one day of pay.”
But then the board began looking at allowing employees to take one day off.
“It still ends up being a furlough,” Hicks said, “if you give them a day off.”
Commissioners are also considering utilizing excess phase one alternative water project monies to cut the budget shortfall.
An omission from the expense side of the budget was for the new intermediate school debt payment of nearly $700,000. Lottery funds of $559,348 were approved earlier in the month to be used to help pay the debt.
At last week’s meeting, the board approved the budget amendment for the transfer, as well as an additional $135,204 to be transferred from the general fund to make up the difference. With the lottery funds and general fund transfer, the county’s budget shortfall stands at the $350,000 number quoted by Hicks.
Former county manager Don Davenport and former county finance officer Shawna Wooten — who both resigned earlier this fiscal year — were responsible for creating the 2012-2013 budget, which included numerous omissions and uncertain revenue. The board quickly approved the budget in June and revised it in July after public outcry.
The county received a second bill of about $64,188 for medical services for an inmate who was transferred from the jail to the state medical prison. The first bill was $31,188.
That inmate, Ronald F. Taylor, formerly of Hookerton, was transferred to Central Prison Oct. 9 and was released Dec. 3. Taylor had been charged with murder, was diagnosed with cancer and is now deceased.
The county budgeted more for a Medicaid payment than they actually paid out for a savings of $138,500.
“That was actually a good because we got more than we thought we would get,” Hicks said.
The board recessed until Monday to discuss how they should proceed with budget cuts.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.