County faces hard '09 budget choices

Balancing the difference between an expected 3.5 percent pay increase for employees and the ongoing drop in retail sales tax revenue may present the biggest challenge to Cape Girardeau County as the 2009 budget is formulated.

County commissioners are in the process of reviewing projections in advance of formal budget hearings later this year.

Senior deputy auditor Virgie Koeppel told the commissioners her projections were based on such factors as the rising prices for groceries and gasoline as well as historical data. So far this year, revenue from retail sales taxes are lagging by 1 percent, rather than increasing by an expected 3.5 percent. Koeppel said the county's estimated 2009 revenue is $10.8 million.

Koeppel said she kept her estimate for 2009 taxes the same as 2008's because "I didn't want it to be negative."

She said the series of disasters this year that hurt the county's finances may not recur next year.

"This has been a bad year — we had the floods, ice [storms], crops are bad," she said. "Farmers are holding onto crops and taxes are down. Groceries and gas are up."

She said she was not sure the county would be able to fund an across-the-board 3.5 percent payroll increase, as has been the standard over the last several years.

Pat Wissman, former candidate for the 1st District commissioner's seat, spoke during the public portion of the meeting. He suggested three ways to preserve county employees' raises, starting with keeping motor vehicles close to the departments that use them.

He said commissioners should use their own vehicles to travel from home to county offices. He said they could then switch to a vehicle from the county's motor pool. He said there should be a ban on taking county cars and trucks home during the lunch hour or overnight. Wissman said during his campaign he'd heard from several voters unhappy about such practices.

Wissman also suggested the commissioners consider asking elected officials to take a 1 percent voluntary pay cut; the move would add $26,000 to the county's coffers.

"That's quite a bit. That's more than some people make in a salary," he said. Such a move, he added, would be a show of good faith on the part of elected officials and a sign "that you do care."

He said another alternative was a two-year salary cap.

"That would be well received by the community. I don't know about county officials," he said.

Jones thanked him for his comments, but said the commission did not have the authority to change elected officials' pay. County Clerk Kara Clark said she'd tried to give up her pay raise last year to accommodate a raise for one of her employees, but was told that was not possible.

Scott County officials eliminated raises for themselves in the 2008 budget when faced with eliminating employee raises. Scott County also issued one-time $300 incentive checks to employees, which may have been an effort to soften the blow of health insurance premiums going up by $264 for this year.

In Cape Girardeau County, health insurance rates will rise by as much as 8 percent, though negotiations are ongoing and Clark told commissioners she hopes to bring the cost down to 6 percent.

In other action, the commissioners approved a cooperative bid with Cape Special Road District on asphalt for a portion of County Road 244 for $81,000.

A request by Margaret Yates, representing the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission, for more than $7,000 in funding for the Public Water District No. 5 grant was also approved.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

Have a comment?

Log on to semissourian.com/today

Wissman suggests county budget cuts

var inlinePlayerParameters = "f":"MOCAP","mk":"en-ap","containerId":"inlinePlayerContainer","type":"ByUUIDS","prop1":"aa9f91f2-fe30-4a57-85d9-414d2d110e7f","skin":"0","headlineColor":"#AB0110","borderColor":"#BBDDEE","padding":"4","sort":"Default","sortdir":"Descending"</script><script type="text/javascript" src=""> </script></div>