For the budget they will vote on Tuesday June 23rd, two weeks ago Finance Director Stephanie Black said:

“This is the public hearing”

What happened to the requirement for two budget public hearings?

The County Chairman said they had $7 million in requests above the expected revenue, so they had had a difficult time coming up with a budget. For (some of) how they did that, see the LAKE videos of the 18 May 2015 Budget Work Session.

Half of this budget hearing consisted of the same presentation from that previous meeting. Then County Manager Joe Pritchard added they got out of paying for some court reporter transcripts, and the Sheriff’s office requested software will be handled through the contingency fund, while the victim’s witness fund revenue is less than expected requiring “a different division than past years”. Solicitor General Justin Cabral wants to maintain a part time position, and the District Attorney has not approved an adjusted division to permit that. And VLMPO wants an additional $16,000 for two previously unbudgeted transporation studies.

There were more people in the audience than usual. Unlike his predecessor, Chairman Bill Slaughter actually let citizens speak. Public Defender Wade Kreuger wanted to know about the proposed office move to the historic courthouse. Answer: about 3 more years at the current location.

Nobody else wanted to speak, so they adjourned.

There’s still no draft of that budget on the finance department web page.

Here’s a video playlist:

Videos: Budget Public Hearing
Budget Public Hearing, Lowndes County Commission (LCC Budget),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
327 N. Ashley St., Valdosta, GA 31601, 9 June 2015.

-jsq

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