County board looks to tighten fiscal belt

By Scott Nicholson

The county government is tightening its collective belt for the year ahead.

Watauga County manager Rocky Nelson presented the staff’s recommended budget to the county commissioners Monday, featuring a 10-percent reduction in the county’s 2009-2010 budget and a bottom-line General Fund of $40.4 million. Most departments would be cut at least 3 percent, and employee cuts are proposed in two departments.

“We’ve cut over $4 million on the budget. This is a very lean and subsistence budget,” Nelson said. Even with the budget finalized through work sessions, Nelson said staff would monitor revenues and possibly adjust the budget throughout the fiscal year.

The property tax rate is proposed to be unchanged at $.313 per $100 of valuation. Property taxes account for 52 percent of local revenues.

Nelson said revenue projections were constantly changing as state projections are revised. The commissioners have scheduled two work sessions this month, and Nelson predicted the May 19 public hearing on the budget would be well attended.

The overall recommended budget for Watauga County totals $56,310,766, a reduction of $4,094,292 from the current fiscal year. The General Fund budget totals $40,435,885, a reduction of $4,192,704 from the current year.

Nelson’s budget memo said, “This recommended budget carries forward existing services and programs and has been balanced using all current available revenue sources. However, the FY (fiscal year) 2010 recommended budget contains cuts in most areas, including but not limited to departmental budgets and education.”

The education budget, for both the public school system and community college, would be cut 3 percent under the spending plan, setting aside nearly $4 million for debt service on the new high school. Solid waste and building-permit fees are proposed to remain the same.

Three-percent cuts are also recommended for the Appalachian District Health Department, the Watauga County Library and the Smokey Mountain Center’s mental health services.

A proposed cut of nearly 4 percent in the Sheriff’s Office budget would mostly be achieved by delaying many new vehicle purchases. Nelson and his staff also recommend suspending the county’s capital improvement plan for one year.

All major capital projects are recommended to be suspended next year.

“The only exception may be the construction of a new Animal Care and Control facility,” Nelson said. “Based on direction from the Board, this option may need to be considered if a service agreement with the Humane Society does not materialize.”

No cost-of-living salary increases and no pay-for-performance adjustments for county employees are proposed. “This recommendation is offered reluctantly and based solely on economic conditions,” Nelson said. “It goes without saying that the county has many deserving career employees who continue to deliver quality services.”

No new positions are proposed. A $37,123 decrease is recommended for the Register of Deeds Office and a $53,136 decrease for Planning and Inspections Department due to declining revenues. These decreases will be managed by the department heads though furloughs, decreased work weeks for some employees, or job cuts. Currently, eight county positions are held vacant due to lack of revenues.

The recommended budget is available at the county Web site at www.wataugacounty.org, in the county libraries and in the County Manager’s office in Boone.

In other business, Appalachian District Health Department director Danny Staley presented an update on the swine flu.

He said the first North Carolina case was reported Sunday, with 450 laboratory tests conducted and contact tracking underway to see who might have been exposed to that person.

“The good news is we’ve not seen but one death in the U.S., and that was in Texas,” Staley said. “This is very much like a typical virus, but there’s no immunity in the normal population.”

Staley said if the swine flu follows the same pattern, without mutation, then it is no more dangerous than the typical flu. However, the typical flu kills about 36,000 people in the United States.

The health scare is a “good exercise in Public Health 101,” Staley said. “Wash your hands, cover your cough, and if you don’t feel well, please, please, please stay home.”

Staley said health and prevention messages had been distributed through the school system and medical community. Local pharmacies have Thermaflu available as part of a national strategic stockpile.

“If you think you have it, call your (health care) provider or the health department,” Staley said. Those who have been in contact with an exposed person will be notified.

The commissioners approved Community Pride week, during which people can deposit their waste material at no charge at the county’s transfer station in Boone. The event is May 18 through May 23 and trash deposits won’t be charged to household accounts.

People can also drop off their hazardous household waste on May 23 at no charge.

The commissioners discussed a joint planning session with the county planning board to research the current sign ordinance and possible revisions. The planning session will be scheduled after the budget work is finished. The commissioners adopted a six-month moratorium on all billboards to allow time to review the sign ordinance.