The Lowndes County Commissioners and staff are attending the annual planning retreat this weekend, but are not spending any county funds doing so.

Chairman Ashley Paulk invited the county             to hold the retreat at his farm, and he’s doing all        the cooking for their meals, at no charge to the county.

The relaxed atmosphere is a good setting for some of the tough issues they have to tackle. Revenues are still not up enough to return to the spending levels of the mid-2000s, and the commissioners have to be frugal in their budget planning to prevent making promises they can’t keep.

In addition to the budget, the retreat is the commissioners’ time to hear from each department about the past year and determine what issues to concentrate on in the new fiscal year.

At the 2011 retreat, the most contentious issue was solid waste disposal. Commissioners also decided on amendments to their travel policy, making modifications to the Unified Land Development Code, and implemented a Lunch and Learn series for citizens to learn more about how their government works.

The setting and conservation of county funds for the retreat should provide the right atmosphere for what may be a challenging budget year.