The Board of Commissioners approved the first reading of the $54.5 million 2011 proposed budget in a 2-1 vote Tuesday. The board also deferred a proposed foreclosure registry vote, after local realtors spoke out during the public comments portion.

The 2011 proposed budget would be 1.6 percent more than the goal level of staying at the revised 2010 budget.

Finance Director Roselyn Miller reported a few changes to the budget that increased it by about $167,000 from what was presented on Nov. 16, including changes in FICA formulas and in funding levels to outside agencies and nonprofits.

Some of the agencies with the biggest adjustments from the Nov. 16 presentation were Rockdale Cares, which was given $30,000 more, Project ReNeWal, which gained $10,000 to be funded at its requested amount of $50,000, and CONROC, which lost $30,000 from the initial recommendation. A new non-profit, Ceek-2-Fulfill, was granted $35,000 in the 2011 proposed budget as well.

Commissioner JaNice Van Ness tried to defer the first read on the budget until the next voting session but the motion died for lack of a second. Commissioner Oz Nesbitt and Chairman Richard Oden voted to approve the first reading, and Van Ness voted against.

"There’s several concerns I have on the budget," said VanNess. "The picture hasn’t gotten any prettier going into 2011… I have great concern on moving forward on a budget we won’t be able to financially afford." She said she would rather err on the side of being conservative and move forward with a clear picture.

Chariman Richard Oden said increases in this budget were largely in public safety areas. "Our issue is in our public safety. We have fire service we have police service. Of the increase in the budget you see it’s in public safety. If the citizens of Rockdale County want to reduce that, that’s where the reduction is. I don’t see it in the general government."

Nesbitt pointed out the commissioners had opportunities during the budget hearings last month to ask for cuts.

He said to Van Ness, "I’m ready for you to specifically point out where you think the cuts should come from."

"You want me to name positions? Is that what you’d like for me to do in public?" said VanNess.

Nesbitt replied, "You have recommendations you feel strongly about long before today. Now here we are, part of making a decision, and you’re backtracking."

"I’m not backtracking," said VanNess. "I said the same thing. Last year I voted against the budget. And the year before, when it was a different administration, I voted against the budget." Nesbitt asked if she had voted for a budget, and she replied she had perhaps in the first two years of her first term.

Sheriff Jeff Wiginigton said, in an interview after the meeting, that there was no additional personnel or raises in the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office and additional RCSO costs were related to the expanded facility from last year’s jail  expansion. He also pointed out the six personnel positions the department gained in 2010 were not immediately filled in the beginning of the year, whereas 2011’s budget has all those positions filled.

"We are not getting any more people and really not more equipment. The operating costs went up because we have more inmates than we did. We’re paying more for medical, more for food, more utilities," he said. 

The board also voted to defer a proposed foreclosure registry until the next voting session after local realtors pointed out the burden and liability it would place on real estate brokers.

In other BOC business:

The city and county also moved one step closer to coordinating the laws regulating drinking establishments. The BOC approved the first read of an ordinance amendment that change the hours county restaurants and businesses can sell alcohol; it would also allow retail alcohol sellers, such as gas stations and package stores, to sell them 24 hours a day, as currently allowed in the city. That change was approved in a 2-1 vote with Van Ness voting against.

The county also reported it was determined that repair to the Lake Capri spillway would not have to be paid by the county since the spillway was only used to lower water levels in the lake and that the home owner's association would be ultimately responsible for the cost of repairing the spillway.

Ordinance changes to leash laws and animal impounding fines were deferred to the next voting session on Dec. 14.

(11/23/10, 1:41 p.m.) The Board of Commissioners approved the first reading of the proposed $54.5 million 2011 budget, which would be 1.6 percent more than the goal of the revised 2010 budget, in a 2-1 vote at today's meeting. Commissioner JaNice Van Ness's request to defer the budget until the next voting session died for lack of a second.

The board also voted to defer a proposed foreclosure registry until the next voting session after local realtors pointed out the burden and liability it would place on real estate brokers.

The city and county also moved one step closer to coordinating the laws regulating drinking establishments. The BOC approved the first read of an ordinance amendment that would allow county restaurants and businesses that sell alcohol to stay open an hour later and would allow retail alcohol sellers, such as gas stations and package stores, to sell them 24 hours a day, as currently allowed in the city. That change was approved in a 2-1 vote with Van Ness voting against.

The county also reported it was determined that repair to the Lake Capri spillway which was damaged in the 2009 flood would not have to be paid by the county since the spillway was only used to lower water levels in the lake and that the home owner's association would be ultimately responsible for the cost of repairing the spillway.

Ordinance changes to leash laws and animal impounding fines were defered to the next voting session on Dec. 14.

Check back to www.rockdalenews.com later for the full story.