Public perception - which translates into re-election - could play a role in how the Coast Regional Transportation Authority is funded.
At Thursday's mid-year Horry County budget retreat, some council members began discussing how to pay for the bus system in the wake of this month's election results. About 65 percent of county voters approved an advisory referendum that would give Coast the equivalent of 0.6 of a mill - $1,080,000 next year - in dedicated funds.
The $1 million is what Coast gets now from the county and some area municipalities that contribute.
But Councilman Marion Foxworth said that because the county has already been giving Coast $500,000 out of itsgeneral fund, there isn't a need to raise millage by 0.6.
"We could raise it by 21/2 tenths and still give Coast the $1,080,000," he said. "We don't have to raise taxes the full amount."
Council member Carl Schwartzkopf said the council could "look like heroes" by not implementing a full increase.
But Foxworth's suggestion raised a discussion among some current members and members-elect, who said people voted believing the referendum meant a 0.6-mill tax increase.
"I think people thought that's what it meant and we got 65 percent approval," said Chairman Liz Gilland.
Chairman-elect Tom Rice agreed, saying he felt the public voted "knowing full well" a millage increase would be used.
On a day when future budget projections included speculation about the need for increased library funding and the possibility of delayed maintenance to save money, several council members said the $500,000 that has been budgeted for Coast this year could be used for other needs next year if the millage is increased.
Ultimately, the council will have to vote on how much and when to fund Coast, but Foxworth said that with a "mandate" from the public, he feels the council should act soon.
County Administrator John Weaver said he intends to present the county with a balanced 2012 budget this spring that includes a 0.6-mill increase to pay for Coast, as long as the state's millage-increase cap allows it based on population figures due out in March. If not, he will find the funds to make up the difference.
For now, the county is looking back at the first half of the 2011 budget year and considering what could come in the second half.
The mid-year budget glimpse shows Horry County is about $1.2 million short of its projected budget, but county leaders also learned savings measures have already been implemented and some revenue has come in higher than anticipated, making the picture less bleak.
Budget Director Westley Sawyer explained that thanks to department heads' thrift and the fees people pay on foreclosed properties, the county is a little better off right now than originally planned.
Officials said as the Master in Equity fund begins losing money because it's collecting fewer fees on foreclosed properties, that will also mean the economy is turning around and other revenue streams, such as building permits, should increase.
In the 2010 budget - named for the year the fiscal year comes to a close - the county saved $12.8 million in expenditures through conservative measures and cutbacks, such as axing cost-of-living increases, leaving 83 positions unfunded and delaying capital improvement projects.
But the county has seen a swifter drop in building permit revenue than in years past. Revenue has been steadily and steeply sliding since the county's peak in 2006 reached about $9.2 million. In 2010, the county received about $2.3 million, about $2 million less than it received in fiscal year 2009.
The county also must deal with declining money from the state and a drop in business-license revenue, which slid from more than $5 million in 2009 to a little more than $4 million this year, and is projected to fall to about $3.8 million in 2011.
"We've been through a lot of wonderful, fat years," Gilland said. "This is not one of them."
Rice said projected shortfalls are "depressing," but he has faith in county staff members' ability to keep the county on track.
"I just hope we can get some jobs in here," said Councilman-elect Paul Price.
Though the county's public safety division has saved some money by holding positions open as long as possible and refurbishing and re-issuing uniforms, Sawyer said the division still presents a challenge.
"These are the high-dollar personnel," he said. The difficulty the county faces is in covering the cost of providing services with a shrinking budget.
Gilland said if the public were asked, it probably wouldn't want to see public safety cut back.
"But if the majority of our costs are personnel, and you're talking about meaningful cuts, you're going to have to," Foxworth said.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.
No comments:
Post a Comment