VALDOSTA — The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing to present its Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget Tuesday. No one attended.

The budget is expected to be approved at the regular county meeting next Tuesday.

The room was empty as the board discussed what has been called an extremely austere budget. Chairman Bill Slaughter said he wished the budget painted a better picture from the standpoint of revenue. He said revenue declined while the price of county services continues to go up.

“Staff continues to work extremely hard with the revenue that’s presented to us to provide the services that the citizens of Lowndes County requires,” Slaughter said.

Part of the reason the budget is so austere is because the board does not plan on increasing the millage rate. The county increased the millage rate to 8.74 mills for 2016 and set a goal not to increase it again for coming budget cycle. 

The county has been under a cloud of little growth for four years, Slaughter said. The board received almost $9 million in new funding requests from its departments, the bulk of which were denied.

Joe Pritchard, county manager, said he thinks the budget is as good as it can be considering the factors the county has had to deal with and also keeping in mind potential emergencies such as sinkholes or bad weather.

Requested items that were denied included requests from 11 new positions across county departments — with only one being added — and 21 position upgrades requested with none being included in the budget plan.

“With any budget there are always requests from departments and elected officials that cannot be met,” Pritchard wrote to the board. “The goal of the county is to always remain fiscally sound and yet responsive to the citizens we serve.”

The proposed budget anticipates total projected revenues of $102,699,667 and total expenditures at $103,642,720. The difference between those two numbers is a negative $943,053 and will be paid for from previous years’ revenue, county leaders explained.

“It’s tight,” Slaughter said of the budget. “It’s extremely, extremely tight.”

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256