County faces tough budget decisions for 2019
"We're in bad straits," Commissioner
Commissioners Chairman
"I think we have to worry about tomorrow and not five years down the road," Camp said. "We have to take the steps to balance the 2019 budget."
Despite a property tax increase that raised an additional
"We barely made it," Egley said after the meeting."We've exhausted the Band-Aids. That's what scares me and keeps me up at night."
Controller
"We'll be fine through the end of the year," Rossi said Wednesday. "Looking at the 2019 budget is a different story."
That is something Camp and Egley agree on. Commissioner
"I have concerns about 2019," Camp said after the meeting. "There's a lot of work to be done from elected officials and department heads, but I do believe it can be done without a tax increase."
Both commissioners acknowledged that the county has extinguished all of its short-term options -- refinancing bonds and other one-time bulk savings.
"It's hard," Camp said. "We raised taxes last year. We put Band-Aids in place to stop the bleeding (in 2016)."
Egley, who has said she is not running for re-election at the end of her term, said she wants to leave the county financially stable with a long-term plan so that the next board of commissions knows the county is "on the road to recovery." She said she worries that the county doesn't have a healthy reserve fund, in case of an emergency.
The county began 2018 with about
Egley and Camp said the immediate concern, however, is balancing next year's budget without adding to the tax burden on residents. That's going to mean hard choices and cuts, they said.
The commissioners have been reviewing an outside evaluation of the county's financial future. Currently still a confidential draft, Camp said, the report will be made public later this month. That report, which The
"These types of changes are going to be significant," Egley said. "It's controversial. It's going to affect a lot of people and a lot of things."
Resident
"It sounds like it's pretty dire straits," Hughes said. "I don't know how much longer the county can bear the costs."
Camp said that officials are working with department heads to figure out how to increase revenues and cut expenses. Both commissioners said the recommendations from the report will help guide that conversation.
"We can't keep acting like nothing is wrong," Egley said. "We're going to have to make changes in order for this to work, and not everyone is going to like it."
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