The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a Temporary FY 2010 General Fund Budget of $6,146,952 at a called meeting held Thursday, June 25, in the commissioners' chambers at the courthouse.

The budget reflects a decrease of $477,369 when compared to last year.

Commissioners Darrell Henderson and Rob Robinson voted in favor of the budget, with Larry Collins and Cooper Cliatt opposing the motion. The tie was broken by Board Chairman Wade Johnson.

In his explanation for voting against the tentative budget, Commissioner Cliatt said, "I don't have any problem with the sheriff. I do believe that it is not fair to ask everybody to make budget cuts and then use the majority of the savings to increase budgets overseen by one person, whoever that may be.

"The majority of the department heads and constitutional officers decreased their budgets, with a few remaining about the same," he continued. "We are in tough times — if we have to bite the bullet, we should all bite it together."

Approximately $75,000 of the cuts made by the various departments was funneled back into the budget. Of this amount, close to $65,000 was used to increase the three law enforcement budgets. The remainder of the money went toward upping the Senior Citizens Center and the Judicial Cost-Share budgets.

Commissioner Collins opposed the tentative budget for the same reason as Cliatt. "The word will go out that I don't want to work with the sheriff. That's simply not the case. What I have trouble with is one constitutional officer getting 85 percent of the only increases we're going to have."

Accordingto Chairman Johnson, "As for the jail, the sheriff's office, and the communications department, these budgets were cut by six percent. However, we added $27,000 to the sheriff's office budget for one deputy, along with an additional $30,000 in funds to the jail budget to hire a food service provider."

Plans are for a private company to prepare meals for the prisoners, which will serve to decrease the county's liability.

Concerning the communications department, the increase in expenditures was a result of changes in the way E-911 fees are paid, said Traci Bussey, finance director for the county.

In other comments, Chairman Johnson noted that 2005 marked the last year the sheriff received funding for a new deputy. "Now, we will have two deputies per shift — one at each end of the county."

"I thought we'd already done this, but I don't know," stated Commissioner Collins.

Collins went on to say that the commission needs to pay close attention to the jail during FY 2010. "Ever since I've been here, it's been a balancing act. Would it be cheaper to house our prisoners somewhere else? The jail lost $250,000 this year. That's probably what it would cost to send the inmates elsewhere."

"The jail is always an issue," said Chairman Johnson. "Generally, they don't make money."

"I'm not looking for the jail to make a profit," said Commissioner Collins. "I just want it to break even — a quarter of a million dollars isn't close."

In general comments, Chairman Johnson pointed out that the FY 2010 Budget is a good, conservative budget. "We took people off of furlough, so everybody will be back working full time. Nevertheless, the budget is good only if the economy holds. The budget is based on the tax digest, which decreased six percent, so there's not a lot of wiggle room. If the economy deteriorates, we have may have to go back to furloughs."

In further remarks, the chairman said, "A budget is not designed to be fair. Instead, its goal is to continue the ongoing work of the county — provide services, keep people employed, and move forward."

Based on the digest, there will be no increase in the millage rate.

The budget does not include any employee raises except for those affected by minimum wage requirements. Also, it contains only $36,600 for capital purchases.

The tentative budget is as follows: Board of Commissioners, $142,098; Capital Outlay, $36,607; Superior Court Clerk's Office, $185,412; the Coroner's Office, $11,387; Judicial Budget, $33,152; County Cost-Share, $53,651.

County Attorney, $26,287; Cooperative Extension Service, $59,838; Election Expenses, $69,402; Employer Payroll Liability, $425,000; the Finance Department, $72,974; General Administration, $1,116,292.

The Library, $95,601; The Lincoln Center, $21,364; the Code Enforcement Office, $93,379; Planning and Zoning, $57,335; Probate Court, $151,440; the Communications Office, $200,055.

Geographic Information System (GIS), $26,393; Office of Emergency Services, $708,106; Volunteer Fire Departments, $9,945; the Road Department, $526,867; the County Shop, $94,627; Arts and Recreation, $136,111.

The Senior Citizens Center, $59,560; the Transit Program, $71,266; the Jail, $620,224; the Sheriff's Office, $646,954; the Tax Assessor's Office, $170,116; the Tax Commissioner's Office, $170,042; and Information Technology, $55,468.

In other business, the commissioners:

.. Voted to approve the FY 2010 Miscellaneous Budgets which appear below:

Hotel/Motel Fund Budget — $19,395.

SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) Budget — $696,000.

E-911 Fund Budget — $139,700.

Water Fund Budget — $698,450.

Drug Education Fund Budget — $1,265.

Jail Fee Fund Budget — $9,500.

Solid Waste Fund Budget — $683,485.

Family Connection Grant Program Budget — $190,042.

Faststart Grant Program Budget — $180,000.

The budgets total $2,617,837.

.. Voted to approve revisions to the FY 2009 Budget.

According to Finance Director Bussey, "There are no changes to the bottom line; we're just moving things from one department to another. By law, every department has to come in under budget."

In related items of business, the board:

(1) Voted to carry over $10,000 to the FY 2010 Budget and designate the funds for the purchase of a security camera for the courthouse.

(2) Voted to carry over $6,806.46 to the FY 2010 Budget for the purchase of a used replacement truck for the road department.

The commission then voted to authorize Chairman Johnson and Roby Seymour, public works director, to buy a pick-up truck at a cost not to exceed $6,806.46.

.. Voted to renew the county's ad in the "Georgia County Family Album" magazine at a cost of $719.50.

The monies for the ad will be taken out of the Hotel/Motel Fund.

The next regular meeting of the board of commissioners will be held Thursday, July 9, at 6 p.m. in the courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse.