By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
Rowan County officials are expecting the upcoming budget will be one of the toughest ever, and County Manager Gary Page has said everything will be on the cutting table.
“Nothing is sacred, we’ll be looking at benefits, at salaries,” Page said this past week. “It will not be a typical budget year because of the economy and layoffs.”
While the county is working to make cuts in the current budget, it has implemented a limited freeze on hiring and travel. Page is preparing for a very difficult 2009 budget. Work on that budget starts within the next few weeks and must be adopted by June 30.
As the county tracks and tries to “guesstimate” the loss in local revenue, other factors like state and federal cutbacks will make the budgeting process much more difficult.
Over the last several months of the political season, candidates for commissioner promised an array of improvement for county employees, from benefits to creating a pay schedule to give more pay for merit and longevity.
Clumping of salaries at the top or bottom is referred to as compression. Officials have estimated it would cost millions of dollars over several years to fix the county salary schedule.
Page said that in a normal year, the county might be able to deal with that issue. “This will not be a normal year. We will pinch all of our pennies,” he said. “I would be surprised if we can do anything with compression or benefits.”
In normal years, debate by commissioners is typically over what to to do with new revenue ó money expected to come in that isn’t already committed to a program or project. Most of the county’s money is in the continuation budget, which totals $100 million or more. That section of the budget runs hundreds of pages and includes programs or spending that continues from year to year.
In recent years, the county has had between $3 million and $10 million in new revenue to spread around.
Commissioners, agencies, the schools and the public pushes for the new money ó to increase their share of the pie or start something new.
Page said it’s unlikely there will be any new money this year. Instead, the focus will turn to the continuation budget and seeing what can be cut or eliminated. While the process won’t be zero-based budgeting, or starting from scratch, it may come close. Page will ask all department heads to build the 2009 budget from ground up.
At a commissioners meeting last week, Page said he doesn’t expect the board to consider a tax hike. No commissioner spoke up for raising taxes.
In the past several years, commissioners have used part of the savings or fund balance to balance the budget. A combination of thrift and more revenue than projected has wiped away the deficit spending.
But with the current recession and forecasts of tough economic times lasting a year or more, county officials aren’t likely to depend on savings to balance the 2009 budget.
Another key issue is the county’s commitment to fund schools at the state average per pupil spending. This year it cost county an additional $2 million to meet the $1,565 per student spending for the estimated 22,000 student in the Rowan-Salisbury and Kannapolis systems.
Increases for schools and a 4.1 percent cost of living increase for employees this year cost $3.2 million.
On the bleaker side, the recession will likely cut local school spending across the state, lowering the average.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.