Americus The Sumter County Board of Commissioners members who adopted next years budget during a June 20 special meeting in a 3-2 vote said the decision was not their OK to raise taxes. The budget included a proposed 1.75 millage increase.

But, Commissioner Al Hurley said to avoid state penalties and standing to lose hundreds of thousand of dollars, commissioners had to pass the fiscal year 2008-2009 budget of $18,482,806.

The adoption did not include any millage increase. Another special meeting has been set for July 10 to deal with the millage proposal. Hurley said he and other commissioners are working to trim the budget.

The budget does not raise taxes, Hurley said. Commissioners Andrea P. Brooks, and Bill Bowen voted with Hurley to adopt the budget. Commissioners Randy Howard and Brent Williams voted against the adoption of the budget.

Why did these two commissioners vote against such an important budget? Economic hard times has resulted in some local governments having to find more funding, which has resulted in Sumter County commissioners proposing the 1.75 millage increase, which if passes, will convert into higher property taxes. A 1.75 millage increase will convert to an estimated $1.4 million more from property taxes, to fund the budget.

But those same hard times has residents struggling through money woes and Sumter County residents have voiced their opposition to tax increases during recent public hearings on the subject. Brooks and Hurley said the board is struggling to reassure those residents. They don't want their taxes raised, Brooks said.

Hurley said there are ways of trimming the budget, including pushing some county jobs back from a five to four-day work week. Brooks added she doesn't want to look at layoffs as an option, saying it will likely hurt the young people in the county the ones that were last hired. Brooks said while they would try to find ways to trim the budget this year, it likely will be only a matter of time in the next couple years that they will have to raise the millage rate.

Williams said he voted not to adopt the budget because he didn't feel comfortable that not enough changes had been made between various public meetings on the subject. But what would have happened if Hurley, Brooks and Bowen didn't vote for the budget on June 20? He did add that commissioners would conduct a good faith effort not to raise taxes. Were trying to find ways of cutting the budget further, he said. Williams said those options can include not filling positions and reducing expenditures. The commissioners pointed out that there were a few consecutive years in the first half of this decade where the total amount of taxes levied remained the same or even decreased.

County Financial Director Ann Barefoot said the commissioners efforts not to raise taxes in these years have basically depleted the County's fund balance.