Economic worries temper celebration over county surplus

Elbert County commissioners celebrated finishing the year in the black Monday night, but the good mood was tempered by worries over tough economic times.

The county’s latest audit shows the county has turned a $675,000 deficit into a $218,000 surplus in one year’s time.

But county finances are suffering from the nation-wide economic recession and county leaders said they were worried about how the state cutbacks will affect the county.

County auditor Dan Walker told commissioners that the county finished its fiscal year on June 30 with $218,000.

The auditor said the turnaround was made by the county spending less than its revenues.

“We have come in out of the wasteland of deficit fund balances,” Walker said. “You made some tough choices. Contrary to popular belief, you can’t borrow yourself out of debt. Somebody’s made some good hard choices ... and you’re to be congratulated for that.”

Walker said there is still work to do. He suggested the county work toward a $2.8 million surplus.

Such a surplus would keep the county from having to borrow short-term while awaiting revenues from property taxes. Not borrowing would save the county more money in interest costs.

Commissioner John Hubbard gave credit to Commission Chairman Tommy Lyon and County Administrator Bob Thomas for the turnaround.

Hubbard said that two years ago, the county had a $1.4 million deficit, but has turned it around due to Lyon’s business ability and Thomas’s management of the county’s 21 departments.

“We’ve come a long ways,” Hubbard said.

Hubbard led those attending the meeting in a round of applause for the Lyon and Thomas.

Thomas said that all of the county’s employees and department heads worked to turn the finances around.

“A lot of sacrifices were made,” he said.

Lyon agreed.

“They do it,” he said. “All we do is try to give them the guidance to get there.”

Lyon said that the county must continue to be frugal, especially with the cuts anticipated by state government.

“We’ve got to play it close to the vest,” he said. “We’ve got to watch all our pennies.”

In his report on the county’s current finances, Thomas gave examples of worries the county is facing.

First, the county is waiting on the Georgia General Assembly to decide whether or not it will release the homestead tax relief grant to counties.

Counties usually receive the money in December, but Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue froze the funds because of lower state tax revenues.

Elbert County’s share of the funds is $380,000.

Even if the Legislature releases the funds, Thomas said, it could be February or March before the county receives the money. And, he said, this will probably be the last year the county will get the money at all.

“That’s a hole we’re going to have to plug,” he said.

The county is also seeing a loss in sales tax funds, Thomas reported.

Money from the local option sales tax (LOST) and special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) dropped 34 percent in December, Thomas said.

LOST is a one-cent tax that is put into the county’s general fund to operate the county. SPLOST is a one-cent tax that the county may use to fund only specific projects, such as paving or fixing roads.

“That trend is probably going to continue for a few months,” he said. “I was pretty shocked at the percentage it was down.”

Thomas said the county budget is currently in good shape, “but I think some of the bad times are coming.”

Thomas said he has talked with the county’s department heads about ways to cut an additional three, five or eight percent from the budget.

The county will look to buy programmable thermostats that can locked, Thomas said, in an effort to save energy costs.

The county will look to cut travel expenses and delay purchases of equipment and supplies, Thomas said.

While the county may not replace some workers as positions become vacant, the county won’t lay off employees unless that becomes necessary later, he said.

At Monday’s meeting, commissioners put off a couple of proposals until they learn more about what the General Assembly will do.

One was a plan to begin a county-wide water system with a water line on Bowman Highway to connect the water systems of the cities of Elberton and Bowman.

The other idea put off was a request that the county ask the state to raise the pay of State Court Judge Richard Campbell and State Court Solicitor Gary Aston. Campbell and Aston asked commissioners for the raise.

Commissioner Jerry Hewell said other counties are going through similar difficulties.

“It’s hitting everybody,” he said. “It’s not only hitting us.”

Commissioner Frank Eaves, who was taking part in his first regular meeting as the District 3 commissioner, said it is good that the county is already looking at the possibilities.

“It’s going to be some tough decisions,” he said.

Thomas said the county will have to “learn to do things smarter.

“All over the nation, we’re going to have to learn to do things differently,” he said.