The county commissioners reviewed the proposed budget for the fiscal year during its meeting last Tuesday.
County finance officer Tiffany Randall and Rita James, director of information technologies, presented the commissioners with the Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget proposal.
The proposed budget is $28,687,000, which includes an ad valorem tax rate increase and an anticipated increase of $10,000 in building permits. The proposed tax rate is a 6.8-cent increase from 76.7 to 83.6 cents. There is also a proposed fire district tax increase.
The budget includes a $157,000 contribution for the design of the upcoming Agri-Civic Center. The county had a request for 19 positions, which include both new and previously frozen positions, some of which James and Randall suggested be funded.
The proposed budget also includes funding for 10 new voting machines for the Board of Elections, a new truck for Emergency Management (part of the cost will be covered by a grant), a new truck for Inspections (part of the cost will be covered by the sale of two trucks), $50,000 for an Emergency Records System (EMR), $32,000 for a walkway to link the sheriff’s office and the courthouse, and $15,000 for bullet-proof glass for the sheriff’s office.
County Fire Marshal Rodney Diggs said the maps of the new six-mile fire district the commissioners approved in February are nearly ready to be printed.
Diggs also said that although the county’s fire hydrants are 2,500 feet apart, he thinks they are further apart, and would like to see them closer to 2,000 feet apart.
Diggs said some fire departments in the county are working to lower their ISO ratings, which would help lower insurance costs. Three departments (Morven, Peachland and Gulledge) are on suspension for a year, primarily due to an issue with their training hours. The departments need a minimum of 20 firemen with 36 hours of training, though the state changed its rules to say that the firemen’s training hours can only be counted in one department, Diggs said.
Truett Wright addressed the board during the time for pubic comment to ask if the commissioners had looked into his complaints from the last meeting about the tax department. Wright said that when he has to go to the tax department, the employees give him a “smart answer — not intelligent, just a smart, snappy answer.” He also said that the employees have made errors with his documents.
The commissioners said they had not looked into the issue yet, but the board members said they were concerned about the complaints and, as it was a personnel matter, would address the situation in closed session. Wright said he would return during the July meeting to see what the commissioners decide.
The board voted unanimously to change the county’s sick leave policy. Previously, the policy allowed new employees to transfer an unlimited amount of sick leave hours earned at another North Carolina governmental agency or entity, but the new change limits the maximum number of transferable hours to 240.
Randall said the change would prevent the county from having to pay for an unlimited number of sick leave hours earned while in the employ of a different government agency. The board also made the stipulation that any earned sick leave hours applied to the employee’s retirement service credit while working somewhere else will not transfer to their employment time in Anson County.
The board also approved a request from Anson County Health Department director Dr. Fred Thompson to charge a minimum fee of $700 for a new birth control method, the Skyla IUD (intrauterine device). “As this is a new device, there are no surrounding health departments or doctor offices that have an established fee for comparison,” his proposal read. “The cost to the health department at present rates is $497. Medicaid reimbursement is $676.99.”
Thompson said the new device is a “significant technological improvement” over similar devices and is applied through an in-office procedure.
The commissioners also approved Thompson’s request to create fees for procedures that will be done through the Primary Care Program of the health department, comparing Anson’s proposed rates to those of other counties.
The board also agreed to create a fee of $188.53 for a postpartum checkup for women only seen through the Maternal Health Program and Pregnancy Medical Home. Medicaid reimbursement is $112.16, according to the proposal.
In other business:
- Chair Anna Baucom said that a county manager was not selected from the pool of applicants, and that the county will look for more candidates.
- The commissioners agreed to allow Peggy Hildreth to serve the remainder of Lula Jackson’s term with the Anson County Library’s Board of Trustees following Jackson’s resignation.
- The commissioners appointed Fran Thomas to fill Johnie Pettiford’s place with Sandhill Regional Library System, as the by-laws prevent Pettiford from serving a third term.
- The commissioners appointed Priscilla Nunn to the Centralina COG Workforce Development Board.
-
The commissioners appointed Kristina Forbes to fill Bob Stowe’s position as the private sector representative of the Centralina COG Workforce Development Board.
The commissioners will hold their next regular meeting on July 7 at 6 p.m.