County makes up for state budget cuts

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

The Bland County Board of Supervisors last week paved over deep potholes the state had left in the budgets of five local government offices by agreeing to use county funds to prevent workers from taking hits to their salaries or losing their jobs.
After meeting earlier in October with the courthouse leaders affected by the state cuts (commonwealth’s attorney, commissioner of revenue, treasurer, sheriff and clerk of court), the supervisors last week received exact figures on the amount of help the local offices needed.
The officers proposed a combined total of $7,000 in savings within their budgets, leaving the shortfall from the state cutbacks at $38,623.
The supervisors officially only voted to approve funding $10,888 of that figure last week – the amount needed to keep everyone fully employed at all of the offices except the Sheriff’s Office.
Supervisor Karen Hodock was absent from the Oct. 27 meeting and Supervisor Jason Ramsey, a Sheriff’s Office deputy, said he would abstain from any vote regarding funding for his employer. That left only two supervisors to vote on allocating county funds to the Sheriff’s Office, and Supervisor Henry Blessing said he preferred to get Hodock’s input before committing the county to the remaining $27,735.
But barring any unforeseen circumstances, the governing body will formally approve the money for the Sheriff’s Office at its November meeting.
County Administrator Willie Howlett praised the courthouse leaders for their willingness to find savings in their budgets and for working with him to determine the precise impact of the state shortfall.
“It has been a pleasure working with the constitutional officers,” Howlett said. “They have all been very helpful.”
While the county was able to pick up the state’s slack this time, the supervisors and Howlett cautioned that local resources are tight as well.
“I believe we can sustain these dollars out of this year’s budget,” Howlett said. “I am not as optimistic as we start to look at next year’s budget.”
Blessing said that the county also can’t commit to helping out the officers again this year if the state – as has been rumored – makes another round of cuts in the coming months.
The county is especially nervous about potential state cuts in support to the local school system, which already accounts for the largest portion of the county’s budget.
“I don’t want to get anybody’s hopes up about what the county can do,” Blessing said.
Howlett also alerted the supervisors to cuts that may be coming from the state to services such as the library, the registrar’s office and the cooperative Extension office. At this point, the county administrator said the impact on the county of those potential cuts is undetermined.
In the midst of the state cuts, the county is also facing a budgetary hit based on a record-high number of foster children in the custody of the Department of Social Services.
The 28 foster children in the county is the most per capita in the state and Howlett said the local cost for caring for the kids could be in the $25,000 to $40,000 range in the coming months.
At last week’s meeting, Howlett also updated the supervisors on the status of discussions about a consolidated E-911 dispatch center in the area.
Howlett told the supervisors he was having a conference call on Monday with Wytheville and Wythe County leaders about the status of the project. He said in a phone interview Monday after the call that Wytheville and Wythe County had agreed to continue to pursue a consolidated center – allowing them to remain eligible for $800,000 in grant funds.
Howlett added that Bland County retained the right to rejoin the project at a later date if the supervisors determine that pursuing dispatch consolidation would be financially feasible and would benefit the county.
Wythe County Administrator Cellell Dalton couldn’t be reached for comment regarding specific details of the current status of plans for a consolidated center.
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .