Oconee Finance Director Weighs Cutbacks in Light of Budget Shortfall

Oconee County is getting closer to balancing its budget for next year, but residents might see a decrease in services as a result, Finance Director Jeff Benko said.

"Right now, we're clearly in the area where we can balance the budget with the cuts that have been proposed and the fund balance," he said.

Citizens may lose some quality-of-life aspects as a result of $1.1 million in expense cuts, but no necessities, Benko said. For example, it's possible the budget may not have room to subsidize some sports activities within the Parks and Recreation Department.

The budget cuts and a dip into county reserve funds will be enough to make up for a $1.8, Benko said. He added that he'll continue to review expense reduction proposals from departments and constitutional offices to determine just how much of the reserve fund should be used before submitting the budget to commissioners.

Benko said he wants to keep reserve fund use below $1 million and would prefer it to be much lower if possible.

The reserve funds will come from two places – an unrestricted “rainy day” fund, as well as a restricted fund designated for capital projects, including the Mars Hill Road widening.

Two public forums -- on June 14 and 21 -- will be held for residents to comment on the budget, which will be available online once it has reached the commissioners.

Benko said there will still be adjustments and fine-tuning to be made to the budget proposal before it will get a stamp of approval from the commissioners.

“There will be some flexibility,” he said. “I think we're fairly close, there will still be some discussions and tradeoffs.”

In May, department heads and constitutional officers were asked to provide budget proposals of around 5 to 10 percent. The Oconee County Sheriff's Office – the largest piece of the general fund financial pie – at $300,000, or 5 percent of the office's budget.

Benko said some departments, especially those whose budgets are predominantly devoted to personnel, would simply be unable to come up with the reductions without cutting back on employees.

He added that “the cuts are pretty severe” in light of the challenging economic times, and that fiscal conservatism and planning ahead helped shield Oconee County from more severe cutbacks.

“Even though were dealing with '12, I'm already in '13 and '14,” Benko said. “If I don't get ahead, I'll be reactive instead of proactive. I want to be proactive.”

Upcoming budget public hearings will be held at:

•  7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14.

•  6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21. Possibile adoption is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Blogger Lee Becker has on county budget discussions and related issues.