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When the smoke settled from the months’ worth of Budget and Finance Committee meetings, a $26 million proposed operating budget emerged that went before the full commission Tuesday, June 27.

The budget includes a 4% raise for almost all of the county’s employees, but is scheduled to cut into the county reserves to the tune of $2.1 million dollars. The budget does not call for any tax rate increase.

At the final Budget and Finance Committee Meeting of the budget cycle on Tuesday, June 20, the unprecedented large deficit (in recent years at least) became a sticking point for Commissioner Joey Hobbs.

“You’re asking us to pass a budget with at least a $2.1 million deficit?” Hobbs said. “That’s an awfully high number. How do you sustain that year after year?”

He pointed out that the reoccurring expenditures will catch up to the county at some point.

“The biggest jump is for employees and I get (the importance of) that, but if we’re setting ourselves up to run this deficit year after year… ,” he said,  noting that the biggest jump in the budgeted total expenditures comes from reoccurring employee salaries, not one-time expenses. “Once you give it to them, you can’t get it back, and our revenue is not growing at the same rate as what we are asking to spend money at.”

Last year’s budget was listed as a roughly $1 million deficit, but is expected to balance out in the final audit. This swing comes from conservative estimates on revenue and over estimates for expenses.       

Chairman of Budget and Finance Lynn Sebourn agreed to some extend that the deficit was high, and defended the raises.

Hobbs said that over the last four years the county has reduced its debt and increased employee pay.

“To get $20 million in debt gone and still give raises to everybody took a lot of hard work by a lot of people,” he said.

He did not oppose the raises, and no motion to amend the budget to remove the raises was made. Hobbs did request the committee remove $500,000 from the budget overall. He said he was more comfortable with a $1.4-1.5 million deficit.  

The employee raises amount to about $500,000. The additional deficit is similar to what has been included in previous years.

When pressed by Chairman of Budget and Finance Lynn Sebourn what changes could be made, Hobbs suggested the “easiest one to take money from are the ones that have the biggest budgets.” Coffee County Sheriff’s Department, Hobbs said was the “huge swing” in this budget.

“If you need the money, you come here, and I think everyone is willing to make it happen for you… but asking for it and it sitting there…” Hobbs said, adding that elected officers’ unspent money could hypothetically be distributed to employees as bonuses rather than being returned to the county’s general fund. Hobbs said that the sheriff has always returned any unspent money. Hobbs suggested that any cuts should not be all from the Sheriff Department’s budget.

Hobbs questioned giving the monies originally directed for the correction officers to road officers to make the road officer’s salary.

“To me that’s a good starting place (to reduce the budget deficit) but we shouldn’t transfer that over to the deputy’s side to give them eight,” Hobbs said. “That’s a problem, but I didn’t see that coming. We’re trying to fix (the other side of the department) with monies that we don’t have.” 

Sheriff Chad Partin, who at the previous week’s Budget and Finance meeting told the committee that he did not ask for the raises for the jail staff (which amount to roughly $90,000). Partin became emotional at the suggestion of cutting the law enforcement budget.   

“Do you have the money to give the raises or not,” Partin asked.

“I have to compete in my job market with the two cities. The level of safety and the level of experience for 57,000 people in this county is going to be at a dangerous level.”

“We’ve been at this position before … $2 million in the past has not been a problem. What I have a problem with is this entity gives so much money to not-for-profits and doesn’t take care of the solid, loyal employees of the county,” he said.

Partin questioned past funding of things like the conference center for $1/2 million and then quibbling over the road deputes.    

Hobbs continued, “The money that is turned back in each year is employee salaries for positions not filled.  Example- tonight’s meeting, returned $210K on Deputies line for salaries not paid.  For the last four years, this is approx. $400-$500K between both budgets- 

“The problem with this practice is, this money should be used for the rest of the county and not a campaign slogan.  Midyear the Budget and Finance committee supported the sheriff giving jail employees a raise without a budget amendment with the agreement that if that line item needed more funding we would support it.  So what he did was raise the jail starting pay to $18.22 per hour which is more than the starting pay for a deputy creating a new problem about pay for you, me and the taxpayer.”

Hobbs added, “that in my five years serving on the commission, I have always been for paying employees and when I came into office the jail starting pay was a little over $12 per hour that is a 50% increase over the five years so for the sheriff to come to our committee meeting and act like a child, pounding the table and threatening to sue the county is really over the top for me.”

Hobbs reiterated that the problem he has with this budget is the large deficit. 

“If we are giving a 4% across the board pay raise with a plan laid out by the Mayor to review mid-year revenue in hopes to give a mid-year adjustment, then why are some employees budgeted to get from 8% to 35% raises?  The Sheriff, Mayor and Chairman of Budget and Finance discussed in the last meeting moving the 4% for the jail to the deputies giving the jail employees 0% and deputies 8%? Doesn’t seem that is a 4% across the board but 4% to some and a lot more to others,” he said.

Hobbs called the proposed budget a step backward for the county.

“The Mayor has presented a budget with more spending than I have seen in the past few years with no way to pay for it other than take from the general fund.  This year to balance this budget, it will need at least 20% of the general fund and it will not be too many years before we do not have a general fund to go to,” Hobbs told the The News’ sister paper The Manchester Times.

Commissioner Tim Brown, who also voted no on the budget proposal along with Hobbs, said that he supports employee raises and fought for additional increases among some of the county’s least paid employees. 

He felt that if cuts were to be made it should be directed at those making upward of $75,000 a year.

Addressing competitive pay, Mayor Judd Matheny said that the county has good people. To lose one any of its employees to municipalities (like Manchester which just implemented a 10% raise in January) would negatively impact the county workforce. When people leave it can take years to train a new hire to self-sufficient levels.  

At the June 27 county commission meeting, the vote to approve the county budget for 2023-2024 was postponed, causing the county to revert to its current budget starting July 1 until a new budget can be approved.