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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
May 17, 2013
Worcester County’s Best Kept Secret
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NEWS EDITOR
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BERLIN
SNOW HILL – Worcester County officials this week began an attempt to reconcile an estimated $7 million-plus budget deficit with a marathon work session during which they examined the spending plan line item by line item to patch together a reconciliation plan. The County Commissioners and staff on Tuesday met for several hours to begin to balance the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget. Initial requested expenditures came in at around $174 million, while anticipated revenues are estimated at just under $167 million, leaving a gap of over $7 million that must be reconciled through cuts to various departments and programs or an increase in revenue in the form of a tax increase, or both. However, the commissioners have said from the beginning a tax increase is off the table, leaving further cuts to an already bare-bones budget the only solution. The commissioners began a meticulous review of the budget department-by department and line-by-line on Tuesday and virtually no stone was left unturned. By the end of the day, some departments and programs saw their fiscal year 2014 funding cut while others survived. The following is a quick look at some of the highlights from Tuesday:
Fire Companies
The county’s volunteer fire companies have seen their county funding levels decline over the last few years as the recession has dragged on. For example, in fiscal year 2012, the county’s volunteer fire companies received $2.3 million from Worcester, but the figure is expected to dip to just over $1.96 million in the current budget. Commissioner Virgil Shockley said the downward trend had to be reversed for the volunteer companies. “We need to put a bottom line on this,” he said. “It can’t drop below a certain point. There has to be a floor underneath this thing. We have five small companies working their tails off with fundraising and you see the ladies’ auxiliary handing over checks for $4,000 and $5,000. This is our community, this is our family.” Commissioner Jimmy Bunting said the declining volunteer fire company funding was necessitated by a drop in property tax assessments, but agreed the county had to hold the line on the funding. “We want to establish a floor, but the revenue is all based on the assessments,” said Bunting. “While the assessments go down, it doesn’t make it any cheaper to run a fire company.” SEE PAGE 39
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