Beaufort County’s leaders, believing many people will want to speak Monday night on the county’s 2011-2012 spending plan, have changed the hearing site to accommodate the expected crowd.
The public hearing, originally planned for the county administrative offices, has been moved to the auditorium of Building 8 on the campus of Beaufort County Community College to give more people a chance to attend the meeting.
Beginning at 7 p.m., those who want to lobby for spending cuts and those who hope to restore funding that has been targeted for cuts will be able to have their say.
At issue is County Manager Paul Spruill’s $50,945,552 recommended spending plan for the 2011-2012 fiscal year and some $128,887 in cuts to that plan tentatively endorsed by the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners at a series of budget workshops.
Spruill’s proposed budget for 2011-2012 reduces overall spending by $1,684,759 from the current fiscal year, but it contains a recommended 5-cents-per-$100-valuation property-tax increase.
Under Spruill’s plan, county residents would have a chance to turn back 1.5 cents of the proposed tax increase if they approve a sales-tax increase in a May 2012 referendum.
Commissioner Jay McRoy said Friday that it’s the specter of a tax increase that has raised public interest in the budget, which could mean a larger-than-usual turnout for the hearing.
“Any time you have a proposed tax increase, people will show up,” he said.
He and other county leaders reached for comment Friday said it’s unlikely that the proposed increase in the property-tax rate will remain in the final budget.
McRoy said he hopes the commissioners can find enough savings in the budget to reduce any tax increase to within the 1.5 cents that could be turned back by a sales-tax increase.
“I prefer a sales-tax increase over a property-tax increase,” he said.
The savings identified to date by the commissioners in a sometimes line-by-line review of the proposed budget combined with $48,000 in recent health-insurance savings represent a reduction of about one-fourth of 1 cent in that recommended tax rate.
In anticipation of the hearing, Commissioner Al Klemm said he is still “looking at every item” in Spruill’s budget to identify possible savings.
“I believe there are still savings to be found there,” he said.
In their discussions, the commissioners have eyed the Beaufort County Schools budget for additional budget cuts, but they have not yet taken any action on the issue.
School board Chairman Robert Belcher said Friday the effect of those cuts on the county’s public schools would depend on their severity.
“There are going to be cuts to programs and people but I don’t know what they will be,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what they do to us Monday night.”
“If there are big cuts, there’s going to be big pain,” he said.
During their budget workshops, the commissioners have suggested cuts of as much as $500,000 to the school system’s operating budget and $500,000 to its capital-projects budget.
Those cuts would be on top of $680,206 in cuts to school funding included in Spruill’s recommended budget, although Spruill anticipated restoring some of those funds through state lottery proceeds.
Commissioner Ed Booth questioned whether balancing the county’s budget on the backs of the school system – whose leaders had worked hard to build up reserves to see them through lean years – was a good idea.
“I think we need to look at what we are doing there,” he said. “I’m kind of hesitant to cut into their dollars too much.”
Booth said that the commissioners should have acted in previous years to raise revenue to pay for the cost of debt on the voter-approved school bond referendum instead of waiting until a difficult budget year.
By saving money, the schools “are the ones that did what they were supposed to do,” he said. “We are the ones who didn’t do what we were supposed to do.”
Commissioner Robert Cayton was not certain Friday what the ultimate outcome of the board’s budget discussions would be, but he said the panel needs to take its time to ensure that taxpayers’ money is well-spent.
“Every budget item needs to be looked at fairly, and fairly doesn’t necessarily mean cut,” he said. “We need to look at our revenue and how that revenue can best be used … and those decisions will take all seven of us working together.”
Ultimately, the commissioners must enact a spending plan by the start of the fiscal year, which begins July 1.
At their budget workshops, the commissioners — particularly the Republican members of the board — have come under pressure from some members of the public not to approve any tax increase.
Buzz Cayton, chairman of the Beaufort Patriot Tea Party, said he and other members of the organization will continue to advocate at the hearing for no tax increase in the 2011-2012 budget.
“The households in Beaufort County cannot really afford a tax increase at this time,” he said Friday.
He said the proposed budget cuts have been “minimal,” and he said commissioners should look for more savings in their spending plan to avoid any tax increase.
Supporters of those programs identified for cuts in or elimination from the county’s funding said they also plan to make their voices heard at the hearing.
Joey Toler, executive director of the Beaufort County Arts Council, said Friday that he and other arts advocates plan to attend the hearing to emphasize the role the arts council and arts programs play in economic development.
“The arts council is not a charity,” he said. “The arts are an economic engine for the community. For every dollar spent on arts programming, $16 comes back to the community.”
Commissioner Al Klemm said he hopes to hear from a variety of people on the county’s spending plan — not just from those who have been heard before.
“The more people we hear from, the better it is,” he said.
Spruill’s proposed budget trims the county government’s work force — which has been cut by 22.5 positions in the past two years — by one position.
It also includes a two-day work furlough in the coming year for county employees — down from the current year’s five-day furlough.
The good news for the county’s budget writers is that the rate of property-tax collections is greater than anticipated, according to information provided to the commissioners in advance of the hearing.
Spruill’s recommended budget for 2011-2012 is based on a 95.01 percent collection rate of real and personal property taxes. The actual collection rate as of June 13 is 95.49 percent, according to information supplied by Beaufort County Tax Administrator Bobby Parker.

Budget changes tentatively approved
in straw votes by the commissioners:

Vehicle purchase removed from Emergency Management Budget — $21,000.
Delay purchase of GPS tracking system for Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office     — $9,600.
Delay purchase of cameras for sheriff’s office patrol vehicles — $9,634.
Cut municipal recreation program funds by 10 percent — $5,278.
Eliminate funds for the Beaufort County Arts Council — $17,000.
Eliminate funds for Literacy Volunteers of Beaufort County — $2,500.
Cut funds for Citizens on Southside Together by 20 percent — $600.
Eliminate funds for the Food Bank of the Albemarle —$1,000.
Eliminate funds Washington Community Care Coalition — $2,500.
Cut funds for the Belhaven Memorial Museum by 50 percent — $1,000.
Cut funds for the Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library — $4,775.
Savings anticipated from Pantego Township Rescue District Contract — $40,000.
Eliminate fitness incentive for Sheriff’s Office —$19,000.
Savings from anticipated cost of state health insurance plan —    $48,000.
Appropriate funds for new Veterans Memorial Park sign    — $5,000.
Reallocate remaining funds for Washington recreation program to contingency (Money is to stay in contingency if the city reduces residential electric rates for city residents lower than residential electric rates for those living outside the city. If the rates stay the same, the county will release $14,159 in recreation funds to the city).
Total expenditure changes    — $176,887.
Total budget as revised by straw vote and other changes    — $50,768,665.