SNOW HILL — One Greene County commissioner said he has given up his salary and travel because of the budget shortfall.
Chairman Jack Edmondson said he is giving up his salary and travel allowances from January until June 30 to keep in line with recent budget cuts. The board recently created a travel policy outlining procedures for department travel requests and reduced or froze certain travel expenses throughout the budget.
“It would put a bad taste in my mouth if I was a county employee and they were cutting my travel,” he said, if the board didn’t cut its own pay.
So far, no other commissioners have followed his lead, nor has the board’s separate travel allowance been cut.
The chairman’s salary is $435.80 per month. This includes salary plus surrounding county travel allowances, Finance Officer Shawna Wooten said.
The remaining four commissioners each receive $377.92 per month.
As of Dec. 31, $11,684 of the board salaries was paid to the board members, with an equal amount available on the budget for the remaining six months of the fiscal year.
There is also a $100 travel allowance for each board member and $150 a month for the chairman. Currently, $3,300 of the $6,600 allowance has been paid out.
The remaining $3,300 has not been amended on the newly-revised budget the commissioners approved.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1982 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com.
Breakout box:
Greene County travel policy:
- Interim county manager can approve travel requests that don’t require county funds or are required to fulfill the job
- Travel request denials can be appealed to the county board
- Travel for training and conferences is limited
- Employees should use county vehicles, if possible
- No overnight lodging within 75 miles of county building
- Meals, etc., can’t exceed 75 percent of allowable costs
- Travel costs cannot exceed available budget funds
- Travel requests are not required for trips to adjacent counties
Breakout box:
The following is the status of most department travel allowances:
- Administration, county manager: $6,000, available $3,000, not cut
- Administration: $1,500; note: need to account for agreement for interim county manager
- Top program: $500, cut
- Tax: $3,500, available $2,731, revision $1,200
- Elections: $4,000, available $3,015, revision $2,000, note: travel suspended
- Register of Deeds: $1,900, available $928, revision $1,500
- Building inspections: $600, available $115, revision $462
- Sheriff: $2,500, cut
- Jail: $1,000, cut; note: travel freeze
- Emergency Management: $1,000, available $578, revision $600
- Emergency services: $200, cut
- Economic development: $2,500, available $2,452, revision $50
- Juvenile restitution: $1,851, available $1,105, revision $1,611
- Cooperative Extension: $3,000, available $2,525, revision $500; note: travel eliminated
- Soil conservation: $1,500, cut; note: travel freeze
- Veteran’s service: $2,000, available $481, revision $1,500; note: travel freeze
- Recreation: $2,000; note: travel freeze
- DSS administration: $34,000, available $20,395, revision $17,000
- Public Health administration: $5,000, available $2,249, revision $3,000
- Senior Center administration: $1,500, available $1,233, revision $700
- III-D Health: $100, available $43, cut