Commissioner Marcie Foster Discusses 2014/2015 Budget on WEIS Radio Morning Show

IMG_0792The 2014/2015 Fiscal Budget was the subject of Commissioner Marcie Foster’s recent visit to the WEIS Radio studios – with much of the discussion centering around dealing with the $1.5 million shortfall in funding for the Cherokee County Detention Center.

One big change comes in the form of having money from the tobacco tax being moved out of the discretionary fund of each commissioner:

Certainly Cherokee County isn’t alone in struggling to keep up with rising jail costs – those expenses, are in large part, beyond the control of the commission:

Commissioner Foster stressed that fact that funding of the jail needs to be addressed now, rather than later, because if it gets to the point that, under federal mandate, a new jail must be constructed the county will then be looking at a much larger problem regarding finances – therefore it’s important that day to day expenses such as roof repair and general upkeep, be dealt with in a timely manner; she added that to her regret, some funding will have to be cut in other areas, however the county is mandated by law to provide and maintain the jail.

From this point on, those organizations seeking funds from the commission must submit a request in writing by July 1st; those requests will be reviewed by the commission later and be given consideration.

In the latest budget, the royalties from the Three Corners Landfill will be divided as follows $40,000 will continue to go to the Cherokee County School System, with each of those eight schools within the county receiving $5,000 annually; the remaining amount will be split 50 /50 between the Cherokee County Highway Department – and volunteer fire departments which do not have the financial support of a municipality.

On Tuesday of this week (October 7th) – Commissioner Foster delivered the $5,000 annual stipend to Gaylesville School, making the presentation to school official Cindy Miller.

Marcie at Gaylesville 2IMG_0797Commissioner Foster also discussed the fact that although the county is dealing with some difficult budget issues, they were still able to provide the county employees with a fifty cent raise. The commission will also be adding two part-time correctional officers and one part-time deputy to alleviate the amount of overtime which has been contributing to the budget deficit.

If you missed the live broadcast of Commissioner Foster’s interview – you can still hear it in its entirety by CLICKING BELOW

 

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