By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — County commissioners will discuss the 2012-13 budget at a work session at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The planning retreat for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners will be held on the second floor of the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Rowan County Administration Building.
Among other topics, commissioners will talk about a scheduled half-cent property tax increase for capital improvements at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
The board also will hear various department requests.
At the suggestion of Commissioner Raymond Coltrain, Rowan Public Library is considering opening for a three-hour period on Sundays during the school year.
Library Director Jeff Hall said this would cost the county about $40,000 to $45,000 for staffing and a “modest increase in utilities.”
The Building Code Enforcement Department is asking the county to adopt a new fee schedule.
The existing one was approved in 2004, has not been updated since, said Building Code Enforcement Director Dana Hart in a memo to commissioners.
According to the memo, the county would gain about $100,000 in revenue from the new fee schedule, while still having “the lowest fees of any contiguous county.”
The Emergency Services Department is making several requests of the county, including a third Salisbury ambulance unit costing about $447,000 to address high call volume there.
In addition, emergency services is seeking nearly $1.5 million to fund another West Rowan EMS station and ambulance unit.
In a memo to County Manager Gary Page, Emergency Services Director Frank Thomason said 90 percent of the district is located west of the current EMS station, and the EMS division “routinely cannot meet the established goal” for response times there.
The department also is asking the county to formally review the possibility of transferring operation of the south Rowan peak time ambulance service.
The county began contracting with the Rowan County Rescue Squad to provide that service two years ago, in order to reduce response times in the area.
Thomason said increased call volume and usage could make it less expensive for the county to take over, instead of paying a third party for the service.
Rowan County’s work session schedule includes:
• Review of county departmental programs
• 9:05 a.m.: Planning and Development
• 9:20 a.m.: Finance
• 9:50 a.m.: Facilities Management
• 10:05 a.m.: 911 Telecommunications
• 10:35 a.m.: Break
• 10:50 a.m.: Information Systems
• 11:20 a.m.: Rowan Public Library
• 11:35 a.m.: Building Code Enforcement
• 11:50 a.m.: Environmental Management
• 12:05 p.m.: Lunch
• 12:45 p.m.: Board of Elections
• 1:15 p.m: Cooperative Extension
• 1:30 p.m.: Emergency Services
• 1:45 p.m.: Human Resources
• Discussion regarding employee health insurance, cost of living increases and bonuses
• Discussion regarding scheduled half-cent property tax increase for Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
• General discussion with county manager
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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