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Commission passes $14M budget
Originally published 10:42 a.m., September 29, 2008
Updated 10:18 p.m., September 29, 2008
The Chilton County Commission passed a $14.14 million budget yesterday, but the decision was not unanimous.
The budget passed 5-1 with Commissioner Allen Wyatt opposing and Commissioner Tim Mims absent for the vote.
Earlier in the meeting, Mims left after a heated discussion and did not return after a 45-minute break. Later in a phone interview, Mims said he left because of an out-of-town appointment.
Mims expressed strong opposition to the budget because of the way it was divided among county departments.
“Some employees of the county were not done fairly,” he said. “You’re going to have some employees down the line that are not going to get a raise.”
When asked why he was opposed, Wyatt said he had voted for only 1 out of 11 county budgets as a commissioner.
“It’s not a budget. It’s a spending list, this one especially,” he said, obviously displeased with the way money was divided among county departments.
“The squeakiest wheel gets all the grease,” Wyatt added.
It took just over three hours for the commission to reach a decision. Several motions to approve the budget were either withdrawn or died for lack of a second before the budget was passed.
Some of the frustration seemed to come from a new state law that takes effect Oct. 1 of this year. The law allows department heads to submit their own budgets and use the money at their discretion (e.g., for raises, etc.).
While the law gives departments more leeway, it also allows commissioners to have more input. Commissioners are required to hold hearings with department heads, and commissioners must approve any line item changes that are made throughout the fiscal year.
Commission chairman Allen Caton said the commission’s goal was to pass a budget that would be agreeable to all.
“I believe we passed a good budget, and I’m pleased that it passed,” he said. “We worked hard with the department heads to get the budget where it’s at.”
The budget is split among county departments as follows: $338,000 to Probate; $180,000 to tax assessor; $507,000 to Reappraisal; $275,000 to Tax Collector; $258,000 to Tag Office; $2,007,000 to Sheriff’s Department; $1,578,000 to Jail; $832,000 to E-911; $1,899,000 to Trade School/Rural and Industrial Development; and $4,567,000 to Road Department.
Projected revenues are $5.9 million, a 1-percent increase from the previous year.
“We reduced almost every appropriation we give to the community,” Commission Administrator Vanessa Hendrick said. “We worked with them what we thought was a very conservative budget.”
– Scott Mims can be reached at scott.mims@clantonadvertiser.com.
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Comments
Posted by TheDude (Michael Wells) on September 29, 2008 at 3:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe we can get some speeding enforcement on CR410 now ...
Posted by getbizi (anonymous) on September 29, 2008 at 4:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Fat chance. The Sheriff's Dept. always has some excuse.
Posted by spearse (anonymous) on September 29, 2008 at 8 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by November162000 (anonymous) on September 29, 2008 at 8:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
spearce: I think I would get a little dog and a big gun.
Posted by spearse (anonymous) on September 29, 2008 at 9:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
kwsgraves: Amen. We got sewer from the city and a lot of us got free hook ups for easments, but we had to have a low income level to qualify. I am happy for the sewer. But to spend money to move sewer so 2 people can have sewer is absurd. It does not benefit anyone else but those two. And it not just free sewer it is free water and free garbage for life also. I ask why? Is it for the common good? I dont believe it being moed to accomodate any new subdivision or a wal mart so why do it? Are they standing in raw sewage like we were? What does it cost to run new sewer lines and move the pump station? I dont know how many officers they need in jemison, but the chief of jemison police spoke to our community prior to the election and he seems to know what he is doing. He spoke very positive on all the pojects and economic potential in jemison and he gave facts and figures to our group and showed us some of the crimes they are dealing with. Things I didnt believ happened in jemison or chilton county. I dont thnink they need to reduce the force if anything they need to add more policeman. Maybe their is a good reason for the moving of this pumping station but i dont think it should be done at the expense of my families safety. If we cant afford to do it without cutting the police then lets not do it. Just my opinion.
Posted by unclesam (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope everyone read that fat daddy(Tim Mims) got mad and left the meeting instead of staying and fighting for what he thought was right. If Tim can't get his way he will take his ball and go home. Now I see why the people of Chilton County think the commission is a joke, we realy need to look at who we vote back in office. I do know that one statement made about a raise was wrong, the way I understand nobody is getting a raise from the commission, raises are left up to the department heads.
Posted by TheDude (Michael Wells) on September 30, 2008 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)
jamiedee, the problem is there have been multiple deaths on CR410. People don't pay any attention to the signs. That's where law enforcement comes in. Just this morning I was driving on 31S headed towards I65. There was a digital speed limit display unit plugged up showing your speed. Now, why can't the sheriff's dept. borrow this display and park it on CR410 for a while? Any kind of deterrent would help this situation.
Posted by getbizi (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 2:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Dude. That is my point exactly. Traffic deaths far outweigh death by gun shot in the US. I'm not saying that the Sheriffs Dept. shouldnt respond to stand-offs, but they do need to be more aggresive at handing out tickets.
I believe we had 23 traffic fatalities in this county last year. How many deaths by "Lead Poisoning"?
Posted by lifestyle (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 10:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The primary responsibility of the sheriff's office is not to enforce traffic laws in chilton county. The deputies main responsibility is serving papers, transporting inmates, responding to domestic incidents. Traffic enforcement in the county is the job of the Alabama state troopers. In fact you will find that this is the case of most ALL sheriffs department's in Alabama. So, people should call the troopers office and request a radar patrol on the road/street that he/she lives on. But, of course the people that complain are usually the one's that are speeding. So I suggest you just write yourself a ticket and not depend on any government agency to solve your problems and just LAY DOWN. THIS IS CHILTON COUNTY FOR GOD SAKES...NOT METRO ATLANTA OR LA...
Posted by A4RealAUTiger (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 11:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
people in chilton county are always wanting the police to do their petty fights for them. this is the most policed county i have ever lived in and i have been all over this country. people here want the police involved in everything. u people are pathetic.
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