SNOWHILL — Greene County employees have been anxiously awaiting whether they would have to work three eight-hour days without pay or be able to take those days off.
The Board of Commissioners chose to have employees take three furlough days, or days off, from April to June, which will save the county about $45,000.
Commissioners made the decision Monday before an audience of about 25 people, including members of the personnel committee, department heads and other employees.
All staff, except emergency response employees, will be taking off from work April 12, May 24 and June 14. County offices will be closed on those days.
“(The board) accepted a pay cut for employees of 4.61 percent, which equals one day of pay,” said Interim County Manager Richard Hicks, referring to a 24-hour day.
That may bring the budget shortfall down to about $305,000, he said.
Hicks said he is expecting to have all the latest amendments figured into the budget by mid-April.
“When you look at last year’s budget,” he said, “they didn’t do a whole lot of adjustments.”
Hicks said he doesn’t know where the blame lies, but said his job is to “play catch-up.”
“I don’t know who you can really blame for it,” he said. “That can be anybody and everybody.”
Commissioner James Shackleford said there were enough warnings the board should have recognized the problem with the fund balance, as the auditor would point out the past few years.
“I think the (former) county manager could see some of the signs,” he said, and added Don Davenport had wanted to raise the taxes by 11 percent, but dropped it to 5.4 percent in 2012.
The county hasn’t raised property taxes since 2008 when it increased from .746 to .756 per $100 of property value.
In 2005, when the county underwent a property revaluation, the rate had dropped to .721.
“It dropped because the property values increased substantially,” Tax Administrator Becky Sutton said. In 2006, it increased to .746 per $100 of property value.
When Davenport tried to raise the taxes by 5.4 percent during the recession, a number of citizens expressed disapproval.
Hicks said he is keeping the State Treasury Office informed of issues involving the budget. He said he doesn’t believe the shortfall will reach zero before July 1.
“As long as we show (the state) we’re making efforts,” he said, “and we get that figure as close to zero as we can, I think we’re fine. I mean, they’re not banging at the door.”
A letter to the public
The personnel committee, appointed by Jack Edmondson, board chairman, is made up of residents Jody Tyson, Chuck Stokes and Deborah Katkaveck, Snow Hill Commissioner Becki Scarborough and Greene’s Cooperative Extension Director Shenile Ford.
“The focus (of the committee),” Ford said, “was to actually look at the county departments and maybe make some recommendations as to cost savings.”
The committee presented a list of recommendations to the board last week.
On Monday, the group presented a summary conclusion on the budget in a letter and requested it be published on the county’s website. It can found on the main page at co.greene.nc.us.
The letter states the reserved funds are now about $1.2 million, but may drop to as low as $877,000 by the end of June. The minimum the state requires a government entity to maintain is 8 percent, or about $2.5 million.
“At the end of this fiscal year, June 30, 2013, we could be about 1.7 million dollars short,” according to the letter.
The 2013-2014 estimated budget will require about $1.2 million to balance.
“In other words, we need 1.2 million dollars more than we have just to maintain current spending. We do not have it!” the letter states.
The letter also provides a look at some of the omissions from this year’s budget, including a $690,000 debt payment for the new school and not setting aside $51,000 each year to build up a reserve year’s worth — or $517,000 — of payments for the new judicial center. An additional $30,000 expense occurred when the county failed to renew its tax-exempt status.
That’s not including the over-estimated revenue, numerous other omissions and dipping into the reserved funds to balance the budget this year and two years prior.
“Simply stated, a lack of oversight and management was the largest single contributor to this financial crisis,” the letter concludes. “… Tough decisions must be made; Greene County is in financial crisis.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Go to Web:
To read the full letter on the budget issues presented by the county-appointed personnel committee, go to the Greene County website’s main page and click on “here” under “Notice” at co.greene.nc.us