SNOW HILL — Greene County commissioners interviewed the first candidate for the position of county manager on Wednesday.
The interview took place in closed session at 4 p.m., following the board’s third budget workshop headed by interim county manager, Richard Hicks.
The position became open Dec. 31 when Don Davenport took early retirement following a visit from the State Treasury Department because the county’s audit report showed less than a month’s worth of cash in the fund balance.
The board set the interview at the May 1 workshop.
“Well, this guy has got a lot of experience,” Commissioner Denny Garner said, “but it’s not to say that this is the guy that we’re going to hire. … it’s just an interview.”
The county received a number of applications, and the commissioners may interview a couple more, Hicks said.
He has told the board he would stay on until the end of June because he is limited in the amount of income he can take in during retirement. He said he hadn’t calculated whether he could stay on longer if the county hasn’t hired a manager by then.
But Garner said Hicks has some available individuals who could fill the interim role.
The board met two hours earlier and listened as Hicks went over the figures that some of the departments requested from the county.
“It’s a lot of information,” Commissioner Bennie Heath said, “— a whole lot to study.”
Heath said he couldn’t make a comment on the budget will look until more research is done.
“I think they’ve been very productive,” Garner said about the workshops. “Much more extensive than we have done in the past. I mean, we’re going line item by line item — every budget.”
The board set another workshop for Wednesday of next week to go over the requests of the Department of Social Services, the Health Department and Greene County Schools.
“We’ve spent a lot of time gathering more detailed information,” Hicks said, “so we can have a better knowledge of what’s involved in everybody’s budget.”
He said it would probably be late May or early June before he can determine the amount of shortfall and begin making cuts.
“It’s just a wish list right now,” Garner said. “But when we get the final budget — we get (Hick’s) recommendation — then we’ll really fine tune it then.”
Garner said some departments have requested more and others less than last year, so far. All the departments that requested more than the 2012 revised budget have also requested more than the original 2012 budget, except for the Register of Deeds.
“Don’t know how it’s all going to fall out,” he said. “But we will have a balanced budget.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Department budget requests
Departments 2013 revised budgets Requested 2014 budgets
(requesting more)
General Government $357,996 $426,021
Administration $389,401 $402,473
Elections $170,621 $254,757
Register of Deeds $189,247 $193,641
Sheriff $1,721,095 $1,883,199
Emergency Management $307,340 $608,398
EMS $1,061,173 $1,065,208
Forestry $50,000 $68,692
Soil Conservation $115,523 $119,103
Veterans Service $25,008 $25,929
Farmers Market Operations $4,406 $10,500
(requesting less)
Tax $538,392 $501,221
Court $21,044 $19,360
Building Inspections $185,311 $175,483
Jail $1,527,671 $1,475,899
Public Buildings $487,277 $435,762
Economic Dev./Planning $68,407 $15,532
GTP Revolving Loans/Grants $77,160 $77,117
County Extension Service $169,445 $164,294
Recreation $234,215 $208,559
Senior Center/Programs $239,725 $218,382
(requesting same)
Governing Body $76,771 $76,771
Juvenile Restitution $47,605 $47,605
SHIIP Grant – Extension $4,191 $4,191
Fit to Farm Grant $11,800 $11,800
Source: Greene County Manager’s Office