Georgia Department of Transportation OKs Majority of Oconee County T-SPLOST Proposals

Executive Committee Next Up

The Georgia Department of Transportation has cleared 17 of the 26 transportation projects Oconee County put forward for possible funding in the sales tax referendum expected to be before voters in August of 2012.

All of the major projects were approved, including the widening of U.S. 441 at $175 million, the widening of Mars Hill Road at $66.6 million and three interchange improvements on SR 316 for $85 million.

The GDOT approval was the first step in the winnowing down of the list of projects from the county that might be included on the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum.

A five-person executive committee, which includes Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, is expected soon to start reviewing the lists of projects from the 12 counties that make up the Northeast Georgia transportation district.

That executive committee is scheduled to deliver its recommended list to the full 24-member committee by August 30.

The 24-member committee is made up of two persons from each of the 12 counties in the Northeast Georgia transportation district.

The 12 counties are Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe and Walton.

The referendum, if approved, will add 1 percent to the cost of most items purchased in the district, with the bulk of the revenue going to regional projects selected from the lists submitted by the counties.

The tax, if approved by voters, will run for 10 years.

Oconee County submitted its list of projects on March 30, and that list included items proposed by Bishop, Bogart and Watkinsville.

Total cost for the 26 projects was $370 million.

Bishop’s single project was the widening of U.S. 441.

Bogart submitted two projects, improvements to the Burson Avenue and Atlanta Highway intersection and the widening of Osceola Avenue. Neither of these was approved by GDOT.

All three of Watkinsville’s projects, the Simonton Bridge Road Extension, sidewalks for Simonton Bridge Road, and sidewalks for Harden Hill Road, were approved.

The county had one of its major projects, the construction of an interchange on U.S. 441 for Gainesville State College, pulled from the list by the state.

It also lost six smaller projects involving improvements to Hodges Mill Road, Colham Ferry Road, Clotfelter Road, Astondale Road, Bob Godfrey Road and Salem Road.

Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara told me today that the state had reserved the right to review the submitted projects and judge them on a number of criteria, including whether they were truly regional in nature.

Beshara said he has not yet been told why the rejected projects were taken from the list by the state.

The three interchange improvements on SR 316, combined with similar projects in Barrow County, would greatly change the nature of that road. Each of the upgrades would be multiple grade, meaning traffic would cross over and under at the intersection.

The three exchanges proposed for upgrade by Oconee County would be at the Oconee Connector, at Jimmy Daniell Road and at a new road between McNutt Creek and Pete Dickens roads.

This last roadway would serve the proposed Gateway Business Park and be called Bogart Parkway.

Beshara said he expects that other roadways in Oconee County now intersecting with SR 316 would be converted to culs-de-sac and the actual intersections eliminated.

Oconee County Commissioners Seeking Input from Citizen Advisory Committee on Courthouse Annex

Dolvin Property

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is asking a citizen advisory committee for advice on possible purchase of the property in downtown Watkinsville across from the courthouse and currently leased by the county for the Courthouse Annex.

Owners of the tract, referred to as the Dolvin property, have indicated they are willing to sell the two-building complex to the county for $1 million.

The property currently is assessed at $662,491.

The county’s five-year lease on the property expires on Nov. 30, and the county also could attempt to negotiate a new lease beyond that point, possibly including an option to purchase in the future.

The Citizen Advisory Committee for Land Use and Transportation Planning is scheduled to take up the issue at its regular meeting on June 14 at the Community Center at Oconee Veterans Park on Hog Mountain Road.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.

This is the second year that the BOC has discussed the Courthouse Annex property while trying to create a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Commissioners have not yet released a budget for 2012, which must be passed before the current fiscal year expires at the end of this month.

February 2011

Last year the commissioners considered terminating the lease on the Courthouse Annex property and moving the offices housed there to the Government Annex, located in the south of Watkinsville on SR 15.

That move fell apart when renovation of the Government Annex to house offices now in the Courthouse Annex proved more expensive than a majority of the Commission would approve.

According to Alan Theriault, administrative officer for the county, the current lease requires the county to pay $6,942.60 per month for the two buildings, which total 9,200 square-feet. That is $83,311.20 per year.

In addition, the county pays for utilities, lawn care and an alarm system, bringing total cost to about $100,000 per year.

The county has enough money in unspent funds from the 2004 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, which expired in 2009, to purchase the property.

By purchasing the property, the county would enjoy an immediate savings of at least $83,000 to help balance a roughly $2 million gap between budget needs and projected revenue for next year.

The savings probably would be greater, however, as the county is likely to have to pay more under a new lease.

The county first signed a lease for the Courthouse Annex property beginning on Nov. 13, 2006, and paid about $500 less per month during the first three years of the lease than the last two, according to Theriault.

The county doesn’t have an obvious alternative to the Courthouse Annex property, leaving it in a weak position in any negotiations.

The first building, facing North Main Street, houses the Planning Department and Code Enforcement. The second building, on First Street, provides space for the Sheriff’s Office Investigator, the Environment Health Department and the coroner.

Tourism was in the second building but has moved to space across the street next to the courthouse.

The 0.6-acre property also includes a concrete-paved parking lot for approximately 25 vehicles.

The tax records list the property owner as Ray B. Burruss Jr. of Athens, but he acquired it through a quit claim deed from Elizabeth Dolvin in 2007, according to those records.

The tax documents indicate the first building, 5,576 square-feet in size, was built in 1993. The second, at 3,640 square feet, was built in 1995.

Both buildings have two stories, with brick exteriors.

Theriault told me in a telephone conversation on Friday that the owners “won’t come off” the $1 million figure.

Theriault said no professional appraisal of the property has been done, but plans are underway to get such an appraisal.

Wayne Provost, director of strategic and long-range planning for the county and administrative liaison to the land use committee, wrote to the citizen committee on May 24 informing it that “the Board of Commissioners has asked that the Land Use and Transportation Planning Committee discuss potential advantages or disadvantages of purchasing the property.”

The BOC also wants to “initiate public input to the decision making process, as soon as possible,” Provost wrote.

Committee Chairman Abe Abouhamdan told me in a telephone conversation on Friday that the BOC is seeking a recommendation from his Committee on the best course of action.

He said citizens would have a chance to speak at the meeting on June 14.

The released agenda for the Land Use and Transportation Committee meeting allows for comment from the public.

As is usually the case for Land Use and Transportation Planning Committee meetings, however, public comment is allowed only after the Committee has completed action on its agenda items.

The sole agenda item for that June 14 meeting is the Courthouse Annex.

McKillip Says Rumor About Partitioning of Oconee County During Redistricting Is False

“No Deal Exists”

Athens Rep. Doug McKillip says the rumor floating around Oconee County that he has a deal with House Speaker David Ralston to create for himself a more Republican district including parts of Oconee County is false.

“No ‘deal’ exists,” McKillip wrote to me in an email message. “We are very early in the process-- just started taking public input at meetings around the state.

“While no one knows how all the lines will look--I am sure the new districts will be fair, sensible and constitutional.”

McKillip was responding to my question, which I sent to him by email. I wrote:

“A rumor is circulating in Oconee County. I have heard it from more than one person.

“According to the rumor, you intend to try to change the lines for the 115th District to incorporate parts of Oconee County, and you have reached a deal with Speaker Ralston to that end.

“Would you please tell me if the rumor is correct?”

I sent that message on the evening of May 18. McKillip wrote back the afternoon of the next day.

McKillip represents the 115th District, one of two districts in the Georgia House of Representatives that lies entirely in Clarke County. He was elected in 2006, 2008 and 2010 as a Democrat, but he switched to the Republican Party before the start of this year’s legislative session.

Oconee County lies entirely in the 113th District, but that district also includes parts of Clarke, Morgan and Oglethorpe counties.

Oconee County votes Republican, while Clarke usually votes Democratic.

McKillip has made two recent public presentations in Oconee County. On May 10, he appeared before the Oconee County Board of Commissioners at its regular meeting.

On May 19, the day he sent me his email reply, he appeared before the Oconee County Republican Party at its candidate forum.

His message was the same at both settings. He said he was offering his services to people in the county while the county is without a state representative.

Hank Huckaby, elected to represent the 113th District last year, resigned in April to become Chancellor of the University System of Georgia. The legislature is out of session but is expected to go back into session in August to deal with redistricting.

A special election is being held in the 113th District on June 21, and two of the three Republican candidates–Alan Alexander and Sarah Bell--were at the May 19 Republican forum. The third, Chuck Williams, was sick.

The 113th contains two southern Clarke County voting districts, Barnette Shoals and Whit Davis. It also contains Winterville, which is in eastern Clarke County.

All of Whitehead Road voting district on the far west of Clarke County is part of the 113th, as is most of Timothy Road district, also in the west.

The 115th abuts two Oconee County voting districts, Mars Hill and Friendship.

The 114th, represented by Keith Heard, a Democrat, does not border Oconee County.

A Joint House and Senate Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee held the first of 12 scheduled hearings on May 16 in Athens at the University of Georgia.

McKillip is secretary of the House part of the committee and was present at that meeting.

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis spoke early in the session, stating that he hoped that Oconee County would not be split. I spoke a few minutes later and supported that position.

Williams and Bell also were present, but they did not speak.

Dan Matthews, running as a Democrat in the June 21 election, spoke near the end of the session and said he supported keeping Oconee whole or, if that is not possible, merging it with Clarke in a new district.

A number of Athens/Clarke County citizens living in the 113th District complained that they were separated from each other and from the rest of the county and asked that the 113th District lines be changed.

Campbell Center in Oconee County to Close, but Land Likely to Remain Agricultural

A Genius Surfaces

The J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center, headquartered on Experiment Station Road outside Watkinsville, almost certainly will close at the end of this year, but the land is likely to remain in use for agricultural research for at least 25 years beyond that closing.

This is because of the approval yesterday by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriation Committee of the fiscal year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill.

That bill provides $125.5 billion to fund various programs within the Department of Agriculture and related agencies, a reduction of more than $7 billion from President Barack Obama’s request.

Campbell Center Headquarters

The bill also stipulates that the Secretary of Agriculture may close up to 10 facilities of the Agricultural Research Service, as proposed in the president’s budget for fiscal year 2012.

The Campbell Center was one of the facilities President Obama proposed for closing.

The bill also specifies that the Secretary of Agriculture may convey the properties to be closed to a land-grant college or university located in the same state as the property if the land-grant college or university agrees to accept and use the property for agricultural and natural resources research for a minimum of 25 years.

The University of Georgia, a land-grant institution, has expressed an interest in the property that makes up the Campbell Center.

The bill has to be approved by the full House, agreed to by the Senate and signed by President Obama.

In the current fiscal climate, it seems unlikely either house is going to add back funding for a program President Obama has proposed to eliminate.

“It doesn’t look like there is any way out,” Campbell Center Research Leader Dwight Fisher told me in a telephone conversation yesterday. “No practical way. They have become too specific.”

Fisher said the employees of the Center have been offered early retirement and other buyout options. The Center employs 25 research scientists and support staff.

Fisher said he has decided to take early retirement.

The Center’s funding is scheduled to end on Sept. 30 of this year, with the end of the federal 2011 fiscal year.

The 1,100-acre Campbell Center is divided into four parcels. Two parcels are on Hog Mountain Road at the Daniells Bridge Road intersection. A third is on Hog Mountain Road across from the Civic Center. The fourth is on on Colham Ferry Road south of Coventry Road in the southern part of the county.

The parcels on Hog Mountain Road all would be prime for commercial and residential development when the economy improves without the bill’s stipulations.

The two pieces of land on Hog Mountain Road near Daniells Bridge Road abut the University of Georgia’s 90-acre Horticulture farm.

Dean J. Scott Angle of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and a resident of Oconee County, told me in a telephone conversation in early April that the University is interested in the Campell Center land if the Center closes and the land becomes available.

“We would like to continue to use the land in the way it has been used,” he said.

Fisher told me yesterday that representatives of the university have toured the facility recently.

The cattle on the farm are owned by the university and managed cooperatively with the Campbell Center.

The College of Agricultural and Environment Sciences has announced that the Plant Sciences Farm on 522 acres on Hog Mountain Road and Snows Mill Road across from North Oconee High School is being put up for sale.

Some of the research there could be moved to the Campbell Center land.

I had heard that the farm was on the market and reported on that possibility in early April.

That property is assessed at $6.9 million.

The Farm will be sold with the condition the seller sign a three-year lease back to the University of Georgia so researchers can finish their projects.

Georgia First District Representative Jack Kingston and his agricultural appropriations subcommittee drafted the bill that was approved by the Appropriations Committee yesterday.

Kingston, from Savannah, grew up in Athens and attended the University of Georgia.

The rules on disposal of the property from the closed center in Kingston subcommittee bill are different and much simpler than those usually used to dispose of unused federal properties, such as the former Navy School in Athens.

The only other land-grant institution in Georgia is Fort Valley State University, a historically black university located in Fort Valley, and it could accept the Campell Center land as well.

In addition to land grant colleges and universities, the bill specifies that the excess property could be transferred to Hispanic Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities or to Native American institutions as defined by the Equity in Education Land Grant Status Act. Georgia has no such institutions.

“I cannot imagine any university not grabbing this,” Fisher said of the land that makes up the Campbell Center. He said the University of Georgia would generate revenue from selling the Plant Science Farm and get the Campbell Center land for free.

“They are geniuses,” he said.

Three Republican Candidates for House District 113 Seat Focus on Taxes and Finances at Candidate Forum

Democrat Needs to Best Non-Campaign

All three Republican candidates running in the special election on June 21 for the open House District 113 seat focused on taxes and the state’s finances in a forum held by the Oconee County Republican Party earlier this month.

“We are taxed too much,” Sarah Bell told the gathering. “We are taxed at every turn.”

Bell said she believes any government budget as large as that of the state of Georgia “is going to have waste and fraud in it.” She said she will work to cut taxes and force the state to operate with less.

Sarah Bell

Ed Perkins, campaign chairman for candidate Chuck Williams, said Williams “is a tough financial conservative” who will use those values in addressing the state’s budget problems.

Williams was not able to attend the meeting because of illness.

Alan Alexander, the final candidate to speak at the meeting on May 19, said the state doesn’t have enough money at present, revenue is decreasing and expenses are increasing.

That “is the very reason that the Republic philosophy, which I agree with very much, should be put in place,” Alexander said.

About 30 people attended the forum, held at the Watkinsville Community Center. The meeting was open to the public, but only the three Republican candidates were invited to participate.

Alan Alexander

Alexander, Bell and Williams have asked to be labeled as Republicans in the June 21 special election, called to fill the vacancy in the 113th District seat because of the resignation of Republican Hank Huckaby.

Huckaby has been appointed chancellor of the University System of Georgia.

Dan Matthews has filed and asked to be labeled as a Democrat. Matthews was chair of the Oconee County Democratic Party at the time he qualified.

All four candidates have agreed to participate in a candidate forum to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on June 8 in the auditorium at the library on Hog Mountain Road in Watkinsville.

That forum is being organized by Russ Page and me. Citizens will get the chance to ask questions directly of the candidates, with Page and me recognizing the questioner and then making sure each candidate is given the same amount of time to respond to the questions.

All of Oconee County is in the 113th House District. Parts of Clarke, Morgan and Oglethorpe counties also are in the 113th District.

The forum on June 8 will be open to all citizens of the district.

The Oconee County Chamber of Commerce also is holding a candidate forum from 7 to 8:15 p.m. on June 16 at the North Oconee County High School on Hog Mountain Road. WGAU’s Tim Bryant will moderate, with citizens given the opportunity to provide questions to Bryant for the candidates.

Alexander, Bell, Matthews and Williams have been invited to participate in that forum.

Williams is a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber.

At the May 19 forum organized by the Oconee County Republican Party, the candidates were speaking to a largely Republican audience, and only Alexander among them suggested that it is important that at least one of them rather than Matthews be elected.

If no candidate gets a majority of votes in the June 21 election, the two top candidates will go into a runoff on July 19.

Huckaby defeated Democrat Suzy Compere in the 2010 race.

Compere, from Bostwick in Morgan County, did almost no campaigning and to date has filed only one of the four required campaign finance reports. In that report, she said she neither raised nor spent any money.

Despite the lack of campaigning, Compere garnered 27.5 percent of the vote to Huckaby’s 72.5 percent.

If Matthews does only as well as Compere, and the three Republicans split the remaining 72.5 percent of the vote exactly evenly, Matthews would be the top candidate going into the runoff.

Of course, it is unlikely the three Republicans will split the vote evenly, but it seems possible a Democratic candidate from Oconee County who does campaign will do better than a candidate from Morgan County who didn’t.

In the Nov. 2, 2010, vote, Compere got only 20.0 percent of the Oconee County vote, but 47.9 percent of the Clarke County vote, 23.8 percent of the Morgan County vote, and 27.7 percent of the Oglethorpe County vote.

In that election, 20,271 votes were cast, with 23.7 percent of them coming from Clarke, 5.7 percent from Morgan, 61.5 percent from Oconee, and 9.0 percent from Oglethorpe.

Alexander, Bell and Williams also are from Oconee County.

The level of turnout at the special election on June 21 will be very important for the outcome, with both parties needing to rally voters to participate.

At the May 19 Republican Party candidate forum, each of the three Republican candidate was given seven minutes to introduce herself or himself and five minutes to answer questions from the audience.

Alexander was supposed to speak first, but he arrived late, and Republican Party Chairman Jay Hanley turned next to Bell.

Bell said she will focus on three themes in her campaign: creation of a family court for Oconee and Clarke counties, “taxes and spending,” and education.

She said the family court would “expedite cases so it would cost families less.”

Bell, who teaches at the Oconee County campus of Gainesville State College, said she has watched students decline in the skills they bring to the classroom “year after year after year.”

“The standards that we have for the state are right up there, but they are not getting delivered somehow,” Bell said. “There is a gap between what we want them to learn and what they are learning.”

“I think we’ve got some teachers who are ineffective,” Bell continued. “We’ve got an administration that maybe is ineffective. Those folks need to go find something else to do.”

In response to questions from the audience, Bell said she was in favor of charter schools and having the local school superintendent elected rather than appointed by the elected Board of Education.

When one member of the audience asked Bell to identify where she would turn to cut taxes, she said she could not be specific at this time.

“I have not looked at the budget,” Bell said. “It is hard to get a copy of that.”

She said she is opposed to the proposed transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales tax and will vote against it.

Perkins, representing Williams, spoke only for four minutes and said he didn’t think it was fair to Williams for him to take questions.

Perkins said that Williams’ campaign “is based on community-based values and common-sense government.”

Williams has deep roots in the community, Perkins said. “His family is from the area. He was on the city council in Watkinsville when he was still a student at the University of Georgia."

Williams “has a wonderful record of community service,” Perkins said. “If there is something the community needs, Chuck is going to be there for it.”

Williams “recognizes the importance of education, criminal justice, transportation, the environment and open spaces in our unique community,” Perkins said.

Alexander apologized for being late and said he had been dealing with an issue at his church.

He used only a few of his seven minutes for introductory comments, focusing on what he said were his qualifications. He said his legal experience representing four sheriffs and two police departments would serve him well as a legislator.

Alexander was asked his position on the interbasin transfer of water. He said he needed to learn more before he could answer that question.

An audience member also asked Alexander his position on tax cuts.

“Funding the things that are important should be prioritized,” he said. “In my opinion, education is one of those–one of the highest priorities”

“I think we need to cut fluff,” Alexander said. “There is a lot of it out there to be cut.”

“We’ve got to live within our means,” he said. “We’ve got to pay salaries. That’s got to be done. We’ve got to pay education. That’s got to be done. It is important. Law enforcement is important. Parks and recs is very important.”

Alexander said he favors electing the local superintendent of schools rather than having the superintendent appointed.

He said he didn’t know what his position would be on the proposed sales tax to fund transportation projects.

Alexander said he wants to consider replacing the state income tax with a sales tax.

He said he wants to preserve the Hope Scholarship program and wants the university of Georgia to focus on basics. He criticized faculty travel for research and conferences as an unneeded expense.

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A full video of the comments of the three candidates is on the Oconee County Observations Vimeo site.

Oconee Commissioners Face Difficult Choices in Battle to Balance Budget

6 Patrol Vehicles/323 Radios

When the Oconee County Board of Commissioners meets tomorrow night to try to reconcile the $3.8 gap between budget requests for fiscal year 2012 with projected revenue, it will have to deal with the following:

A request for six patrol vehicles from the sheriff, at a cost of $198,000.

A request for soccer goals, repair to a walking path and web site upgrades from the Parks and Recreation Department, at a cost of $24,650.

A request for purchase of 323 radios for the county’s upgraded Emergency 911 service at a cost of $1.2 million.

The county’s four constitutional officers and departments ranging from Animal Countrol to Tourism told the commissioners they need $22.6 million to operate in 2012.

Finance Director Jeff Benko is telling the commissioners he anticipates the county will have only $18.8 in revenue.

At the called meeting of commissioners last Tuesday night, Chairman Melvin Davis suggested that the starting point for discussions of the 2012 budget should be the current 2011 budget of $20.8 million.

Going back to the 2011 budget would mean that the six patrol vehicles, the soccer goals, walking path repair, web site upgrades and 323 radios would have to go.

The other four commissioners agreed with Davis, but they and Davis also acknowledged that there would have to be exceptions, such as for public safety and other crucial services.

And even if the 2011 budget is the base, the county is still going to be $2 million in the hole, meaning even deeper cuts, increased spending of reserves, or tax and fee increases will have to be considered.

Benko has said he doesn’t think the county can spend more than about $1 million from reserves without jeopardizing county operations and financial ratings.

The budget request of the four constitutional officers–the sheriff, tax commissioner, probate court judge, and clerk of courts–is most difficult. The BOC is obligated to fund these officers at levels the officers require.

The sheriff stands out among these three because of the scope of his activities, the fact that public safety is important to most everyone and his political power.

Among county departments, Parks and Recreation is a big player as well, because lots of people take advantage of what it does.

The Utility Department provides water to many customers and sewage to commercial properties and a small number of homeowners. But it is expected to generate its own revenue through sales of its services, so it is outside the $20.8 million General Fund budget that is likely to be the center of discussion tomorrow night.

That meeting is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. at the courthouse.

The public will not necessarily be given a chance to speak at the meeting. Public hearings on the budget are set for May 31 and June 7, only after the final budget has been agreed upon by the Board of Commissioners.

The 2012 budget goes into effect on July 1 of this year.

The county has not released the budget requests of the departments or the constitutional officers.

I filed an open records request for four of those budgets, for Parks and Recreation, Public Works, the sheriff and the Utility Department.

I wrote about the Utility Department budget, which includes a request for fee hikes for water and sewer services, on May 16.

The budget prepared by Sheriff Scott Berry covers three areas—law enforcement, the jail and Emergency 911. The total budget request for these three for 2012 is $7.8 million, up from $6.5 million in the current fiscal year.

The cost of the jail is flat. The increase in law enforcement is largely the result of the request for the six patrol vehicles.

The sheriff asked for new patrol vehicles last year as well and delayed purchasing them because of last year’s budget problems.

The new radios for the Emergency 911 system are needed because the county has to switch to a different frequency for its system.

Parks and Recreation is requesting the repair to the walking trail at the Bogart Sports Complex because the existing trail has been damaged by roots and is considered to be a safety hazard, according to the documents it submitted.

The web site upgrades will provide for more training of users and allow for self-posting of park and recreation events.

The soccer goals are needed to maximize field usage and rentals for tournament play, according to the budget request documents.

The Public Works Department budget request for 2012 , at just under $2.5 million, is $31,398 less than a year before.

Public Works Director Emil Beshara also submitted a separate budget for Solid Waste. That budget request, at $528,776, was the same as a year earlier.

Personnel costs were static in the Public Works, Solid Waste, Law Enforcement, Jail and E-911 budgets.

Parks and Recreation requested $9,725 in additional personnel costs for operation of the Community Center and additional park maintenance support.

Oconee County Commissioners Told Gap Between Budget Requests and Revenue Nearly Twice Earlier Estimate

Flatten Budget is Response

Oconee County commissioners got the grim news tonight that the gap between budget requests and revenue projections for fiscal year 2012 is a whopping $3.8 million, rather than the roughly $2 million difference discussed earlier.

The immediate response of the commissioners was to ask Finance Director Jeff Benko to come back to the Board next week with a budget frozen at the 2011 level of $20.8 million and to find a way to balance that budget.

That won’t be easy.

The revenue projection is $18.8 million, and the fund balance–the county’s cash reserve–is very close to what Benko said he considers to be the minimum required.

Davis at BOC, 5/17/2011

That balance as of June 30, 2010, was $9.6 million, but the county set aside $1.1 million of that to balance the 2011 fiscal year budget, which ends on June 30. How much of that is going to be needed to cover expenses still isn’t known, Benko said.

Benko told the Board of Commissioners that $4 million has been set aside to be used to purchase rights of way for the widening of Mars Hill Road. The state will reimburse much, but not all, of the expense, but the county gets the payments in lump amounts.

Benko said he thinks roughly $1 million could be taken from the fund balance for the 2012 budget, but that would leave a gap of about $1 million between the projected revenue of $18.8 million and a flat budget of $20.8 million.

Benko floated the idea of a millage rate increase as well as cuts in services.

Neither of these enjoyed support when Benko first mentioned them, but BOC Chairman Melvin Davis later asked Benko to explain both.

Benko said that the tax rate could be increased without resulting in increased tax bills for properties in the county that had decreases in valuation.

Davis suggested that service cuts could include the closing of the library or county parks for a day, and Benko agreed that was what he was suggesting.

Commissioner Jim Luke said that a millage rate increase would affect homeowners more than commercial property owners and developers, since home owners generally have experienced less depreciation of their property than is true for undeveloped and commercial properties.

He left little doubt he was not enthusiastic about a millage rate increase for that reason.

The county’s constitutional officers and department heads made budget request presentations to the commissioners in April. At that time, the county was projecting that revenue would be less than $19 million and requested spending would come in about $21 million. The budget requests were not final at that time.

Benko's presentation tonight at the called special meeting was the first public indication that the budget situation was worse than originally suggested.

The commissioners agreed to meet again at 7 p.m. on May 23 in the courthouse to see more precisely what a flat budget means for the various departments and officers and to explore precise ways to bridge the gap.