The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
By CHARLES BOOTHE - Staff Writer
Franklin County and the county's constitutional offices will share the burden of recent state budget cuts.
The board of supervisors agreed Tuesday to provide more than $134,000 of the $294,124 the state recently cut from constitutional offices' budgets, leaving the remaining $160,000 to be absorbed by the offices.
That was one of four options on how to handle the cuts county Finance Director Vincent Copenhaver presented to the board.
"This is the fourth time in two years we've dealt with state budget cuts," Copenhaver said as he detailed the options, which ranged from the county providing the entire amount to the constitutional offices absorbing all the cuts.
With the option chosen, no jobs will be lost and the offices can maintain services, he said.
The cuts will primarily be made up by not filling vacancies -- three in the sheriff's department, one in the commonwealth attorney's office and one in the commissioner of revenue's office.
Copenhaver said the county's share can come from Comprehensive Service Administration savings because the CSA costs have not risen to predicted levels.
The state funds 40 percent of the cost of the constitutional offices, which include the sheriff's department, commonwealth attorney's office, commissioner of revenue, treasurer and clerk of court.
"But virtually all the benefits (from these offices) are local," Copenhaver said, specifying tasks each office does and pointing out that the workload has increased in recent years because of the county's population growth.
"These jobs need to get done by these offices," he said.
Treasurer Lynda Messenger told the board that the county has made $200,000 on a tax sale (property with unpaid taxes sold) and that more auctions are scheduled, which will bring in more money.
But supervisors were hesitant in committing "one-time" money to ongoing expenses and also cautioned that more state budget cuts may be coming.
"This (budget cuts) is real," said Wayne Angell, Blackwater District supervisor. "We're much more likely to have another cut in January (when the General Assembly meets again)."
Angell agreed that the option chosen was best at this point, but the issue may surface again in January when it becomes clearer what the General Assembly and the new governor will do. "Is there some guarantee that next year's funding from the state will be better?" he asked.
"No one is shielded from cuts," Angell said. "There's no protection (for specific offices) when things slow down."
Angell said that the board "must be consistent to all groups," and the county may not be able to continue making up state cuts.
Boones Mill Supervisor David Hurt agreed and said other "holes may pop up" related to state funding cuts. But, he said, the county must focus on providing services to citizens.
"We need to pursue every option we have to lessen the impact (of the cuts)," he said.
Supervisors Chairman Charles Wagner (Rocky Mount District) said the option at least makes sure there is no job loss and no reduction in services.
"If we get hit (with more cuts) in January, we'll revisit it (the options)," he said.
Copenhaver said he had heard that both candidates for governor, Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds, have said they would restore all state funding to constitutional offices.
"But we have not been able to verify that," he said. |
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