County budget passes without a tax increase: Substantial cuts made to sheriff’s department
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The commission then passed both an alternative budget that kept the tax rate unchanged and an amendment to that budget that included cuts to the sheriff’s department, though both those votes had a much narrower margin.
The 11-cent property tax increase, while defeated in a straw vote in June, had never been formally voted down. Commissioners soon took care of that omission by soundly defeating the tax increase by a 16-5 vote, a slight change from the original 17-4 straw vote.
Commission Chairperson Sally Brock then moved on to the votes on the other budgets on the docket, but Commissioner Terry Bell asked if, with no formal tax levy or budget in place, those budgets could actually be passed. County attorney Larry Stanley agreed that a tax rate would have to be set, and cuts made to the budget to meet that rate. Commissioner Bell then made a motion to keep the tax rate at the previous year’s level of $2.53.
This led to extensive discussions as to whether enough cuts had been made to meet that rate, with the county attorney suggesting the budgets for all the departments be moved back to committees for cuts, and then be voted on at the commission’s next meeting.
But most of the commissioners seemed to feel enough cuts had already been made, and the budget should be voted on at the current meeting.
Adding to the confusion was a controversial amendment to the proposed budget from Commissioner Les Trotman, acting for the Safety Committee, to cut $178,000 from the sheriff’s budget. But Stanley pointed out that the vote to set the tax levy had to pass first before any budget could be put to a vote.
The vote to keep the previous tax rate passed with a 15-6 vote. The vote to amend the budget to include cuts to sheriff’s budget passed 13-8, and the vote on the amended budget also passed with a 13-8 vote.
In a complete turnaround from the commission’s last specially called meeting where nothing was done, Monday’s meeting ended with the sales tax referendum, a tax levy with no property tax increase, and a consolidated budget all duly passed and in place.