Macon County Commission Makes Recommendations for Budget Adjustments
A special called meeting was held on Friday for the Macon County Commission to discuss and adjust the county’s budget.
County Chairman Louis Maxwell said budget problems stemmed from the closing of Victoryland, the county’s largest tax payer. Maxwell explained the lost revenue was from occupational tax on roughly 2,500 employees who lost their jobs, coupled with lost sales tax revenue generated from the sale of alcoholic beverages, was a big hit to the county’s budget.
Chairman Maxwell said the county isn’t bankrupt and there will be no layoffs but there will be some changes.
“We’re going to do the best we can. We are not giving excuses. Our job is to see how can we do it,” said Maxwell.
Chairman Maxwell made recommendations such as amending the expense in the budget by $350,000 and amend the revenue budget by $150,000.
“It has an impact of almost half a million dollars on our budget because you’re reducing about $350,000 and reducing $150,000. So, that’s what we are trying to do to improve cash flow,” said Maxwell.
While there will be no layoffs, another recommendation is to freeze all positions in all county departments. That freeze includes two positions in the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’m a team player. I don’t mind freezing a couple of positions if it’s going to help him and the money situation they are in but I also don’t want to jeopardize the safety of this community,” said Macon County Sheriff, Andre Brunson.
Sheriff Brunson also said his deputies have 700 square miles cover which has to be operated under a maximum force.
Lastly, a recommendation was to cut all overtime for county employees. The County Commission discussed that some special circumstances would have to be made for law enforcement and road and bridge crews however, all overtime will need to be approved by department heads.
The recommendations will go into effect for the remainder of the year.
