Horry County Council passes budget

Tuesday, Horry County council passed its budget for the fiscal year 2009-2010.

The budget includes, no tax increase, county employees will have their salaries reinstated and The COAST RTA will get $500.000 in funding.

EMS fees are going to go up.  Public Information Officer Lisa Bourcier said the kind of care you receive will determine how much you will pay.

Also included in the budget is $95,000 for the county’s public defender’s office to re-hire two employees.  Gerald Ballen, who will be re-hired said, “I am so grateful I am so thankful and just so proud of my county.”  Council’s budget approval just covers the public defender’s office from July of this year until July of 2010 and it was only enough to reinstate two out of four employees who were let go.  Orrie West, Public Defender said, “I don’t know if we’re going to be back next year, I hope the economy changes, but right now Horry County has all of our appreciation for what they’ve done for us tonight, we greatly appreciate what has happened.“

But not everybody is happy with the budget.

Two CASA (Citizens Against Spousal Abuse) employees and one other woman all but pleaded with council members to not take away the money council gives to the agency, but in the end council voted seven to five in favor of the budget.  Council chair Liz Gilland said, “They do incredible work, some of them do life-saving work, in fact a number of them do, and so it’s hard to not fund them but government has certain responsibilities we have to meet first and there was just not enough money to go around this year.“

Some of the council members who voted against the budget gave reasons for their vote.  Councilman Paul Prince said one of the reasons he voted against the budget is because dirt roads were sacrificed.  Gary Loftus said one of the reasons he voted no was because he wanted to hear at least a 10-year plan from The COAST RTA about funding, and he’s not yet seen that.  Howard Barnard said one of the reasons he voted no is because he didn’t feel like the employees were given top priority, he wanted more for them, monetarily.

Gilland also told News13, in the next few years, council is likely to pass a dedicated tax increase to support The COAST RTA for the long term.  Gilland said public support for public transportation is not uncommon in most cities and said the small amount you will pay will pale in comparison to the big boost it will give to the people who need it.

Bourcier said some of the cuts you will notice include a cutback on services like road paving, grass cutting and the county will hold off on filling 80 open positions.
 
The budget goes into effect July 1.