MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — Tuesday morning, Monroe County Commissioners approved their 2023 budget. That's after finding out late in the process that about $2.6 million they were counting on wasn't coming in.
It came after finding that their biggest taxpayer, Georgia Power's Plant Scherer, was closing one of its four units.
Commissioner Eddie Rowland says instead of jumping to panic, the county got to work.
"We had over 2,000 line items, but we went through each of them and found the money," says Rowland.
The 2023 budget takes a 6% decrease from 2022, coming in at about $45 million.
"We still maintain a contingency of over $600,000, and we have our reserves maxed out -- we're in good shape," he says.
To get here, they cut some payroll costs, an area that takes up over half of their budget. They will have 29 vacancies.
"There are several vacant positions in the EMS and the sheriff's department, some of those are difficult to fill anyway whether they are open and funded positions or not," says Rowland.
They also found help in other areas.
"We reduced our debt services. We actually made money this year, we did a little bit better than break even in community water," says Rowland, which gives them room for planned improvements.
"Well, we actually are going to fund two fire stations to be manned full-time," he adds.
He says a training area for the sheriff's office, and an animal storage facility expansion also survived the cuts.
Here is some more of the breakdown.
Of the $45 million budget, they will put $37.1 million towards the general fund, just over $1.4 million towards capital projects, about $5 million in enterprise funds, and $2 million in special revenue funds.
$23.5 million of the total 2023 budget is going towards salary and benefits, which is 51% of the budget. $16.6 million is dedicated specifically to salaries.
The county has budgeted for 391 positions, and they plan to leave 29 vacant. 14 from the sheriff's office, and 12 from the Monroe County Emergency Services. They say each department is still adequately staffed.
The county reports that other main parts of the general fund include $630,000 in contingency. They will put money into constitutional officers, debt, property insurance, utilities, Towaliga Judicial Circuit, jail food and medical expenses, EMS medical supplies, E-911 contracts, purchased water for resale, recycling centers, the landfill, and capital expenditures.
They've seen an increase in revenue from Title Ad Valorem Tax, Local Option Sales Tax, life insurance premiums, probate court fines, the water fund, and other miscellaneous projects.