By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
Two Caroline leaders spoke at the Feb. 24 State of the County Address, one speaking "of the real bright spots the County has experienced over the past year," and the other explaining "the difficult task of presenting the proposed County Budget to the Board of Supervisors," which occurred the previous evening.
The address at the Social Services Building auditorium Wednesday evening, attended by about 20, was sponsored by the Caroline Chamber of Commerce, with President Cindy Matern urging everyone to buy locally and "keep your money in Caroline."
The county's many "bright spots," as described by Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Maxie Rozell, include Caroline winning the All-America City award, the only U.S. county to win, and all Caroline public schools winning accreditation and AYP.
But with the nationwide recession deepening, the difficult task of discussing county finances fell to County Administrator Percy Ashcraft.
"We face a loss of state revenue for general operations of $515,000 through the budget bill left behind by Governor Kaine," he said, and the loss of $200,000 in recordation fees and $83,000 in grant reimbursements.
Also, sales tax revenue is projected to be down along with fees, and there were "huge increases for employees" in health insurance and retirement. Meanwhile costs are up for correctional facilities while "new schools and government buildings require an increase in payments for debt service."
"To deal with this shortage of revenue, I have had to propose to the Board of Supervisors deep cuts," he said.
County staff is proposed to be cut by 14, leaving 173 full-time and 60 part-time employees, pay reduced, and school funding cut over $400,000. Cut too are the cannery along with the summer jobs program, and funding reduced for the Health Department and hours at county dumps. The capital improvement program is frozen, and investments made only in essential fire and rescue equipment and solid waste equipment.