Darlington County Council reviews proposed budget

Despite cuts in state revenue to Darlington County totaling more than $1 million for the coming budget year, County Administrator Phyllis Griffitts presented a proposed budget package for 2009-10 of almost $32.5 million that is balanced without an increase in property taxes.

“This has been a challenging budget year due to state cuts,” Griffitts said in her annual budget message to council. “However, the budgets have been cut and balanced with no millage increase in taxes.”

Council held first reading on a series of budget ordinances for the coming budget year during its regular meeting Monday.

No vote is taken on first reading, but council members said they appreciated the effort that went into balancing the budget without raising taxes in tough economic times.

Griffitts said the budget does not eliminate any county employee positions, nor does it rely on employee furloughs, she said.

The largest revenue cut came in the $24.8 million general fund, more than $1.1 million, with $991,910 of that coming in the form of a cut by the state in local government funding, Griffitts said.

The state also cut $66,500 in state aid to public libraries and another $19,000 in library lottery funding, she said.

Many decreases came in some operational and some capital fund accounts and in some accounts for grant matches, Griffitts said.

“I think our administrator did a wonderful job of getting this budget balanced without a tax increase,” councilman Billy Baldwin of Darlington said.

“I don’t think anybody can complain,” councilman Alex “Buz” Shaw of Hartsville said. “It certainly shows effort and it shows concern for the people of our county.”

“This year upcoming, and the one we’ve just gone through, we certainly have not experienced before,” council Chairman Wesley Blackwell of Hartsville said.

Blackwell commended Griffitts, her staff and the various county government department heads for finding ways to balance the budget in a difficult economy without raising property taxes.

“We appreciate the sacrifices folks who work for the county are making,” Blackwell said, referring to the absence of pay raises in the budget.

Griffitts said that because so many county employees are emergency services workers and cannot be cut or furloughed, those steps would have saved little money.

She said declines in fuel costs in recent months helped also.

Council will hold its first work session on the proposed budget package at 5 p.m. on May 27.

Blackwell said he wanted to have a work session to go through the budget before it comes back before council for a vote on second reading, which should be at the next regular meeting on June 1.

Council will have to hold a public hearing on the eight budget ordinances before giving them final approval on third reading.

In other business, council gave preliminary approval to an ordinance updating the land use component of Darlington County’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Land Use Planning Map.

State law requires counties to develop and maintain a planning process which will result in a systematic preparation and reevaluation and updating of the nine components of their land use plans.

County planning officials and the planning commission have been updating the county’s plan for several months. The land use element is one of the final components to be updated, officials said.

The planning commission recommended the updated land use element, which officials say is aimed at providing a framework for growth and development.

Council will hold a public hearing on the land use element ordinance when the measure comes up for a final vote on third reading in June.

— Staff writer Jim Faile can be reached at (843) 332-6545. Comment on this story at http://www.scnow.com