NEWBERRY COUNTY

CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING

Minutes for April 19, 2007

The Newberry County Citizens Advisory Committee met on Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 7:00 pm at the Courthouse Annex Conference Room, 1309 College Street, Newberry, SC 29108

Present:

Citizens Advisory Committee: Vina Abrams, Jerry Wright, Peggy Schumpert, Andrew Shealy, Vicki Mays, Wayne Nichols, Terry Cotney, Carl Marr, Mary Arrowood, Lisa Toland, O.L. Johnson, Jr., Mike Davenport, Ted Waites, Phillip Epps, Terry Koon, Stuart Peters, Doris Corbitt, Hugh Gray, Gloria Lemus, Brent Richardson, & Richard Crump

Others:

Debbie Cromer, County Finance Director; Cindy Pitts, The Newberry Observer

Susan Fellers, Clerk to County Council; Heather Hawkins, WKDK; 3 Spectators

1. Call to Order and Welcome

Mike Davenport, Committee Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. He welcomed all members and thanked them for agreeing to serve.

2. Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved by the body.

3. Approval of April 12, 2007 Minutes

The minutes were approved by the body.

4. Discussion of Meeting Time and Place

After discussion it was agreed by the body that the Committee would meet again on Tuesday April 24, at 7:00 pm in the Conference Room. The next meeting date was also set for Thursday May, 3 at 7:00 p.m.

5. Presentation of Newberry County’s Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Budget by County Administrator Wayne Adams and Staff

Members of the Committee were presented with the Newberry County Budget Workbook Fiscal Year 2007-2008. Members were also presented very helpful handouts: Sources of County Revenue FY 07-08; County Expenditures; Spending: Budget vs. Actual; and Reserve Cash: Actual vs. Recommended

6. Discussion

Several items were discussed by various members of the Committee:

• Local Options Sales Tax will be on the ballot in November. Newberry must be mindful of taxes in surrounding counties. We need to stay in line with them.
• Other sources of revenue that could be generated by the county. For instance, Edgefield County uses a Solid Waste Fee and Road Maintenance Fee to offset higher property tax.
• What assets does the county have? Could a fee be charged for use of Lynches Woods, etc.?
• What are the benefits of In Lieu of Fee Taxes?
• Where is the focus on Economic Development? From recent news reports it seems that Newberry County is losing out to other counties. The focus of economic development should be Recruitment, Retention, and Expansion.
• Attraction of industry to the county. Acquiring businesses will not amount to much if these industry workers do no spend their money in the county. Does anyone know how many current plant managers actually live in the county?
• The Industrial Park at Highway 773 and I-26. Now that we have the property we need to go forward and aggressively market Newberry County and the Industrial Park. Where else would we put industry? The 219 Industrial Park is nearly full.
• County employees have no set cost of adjustment. Their salary increases are based on merit. In FY 01-02 there were 181 county employees vs. FY 07-08 of 231. Since 01-02 numerous other county departments have been added such as Haz-mat, Zoning, Building, Animal Control, etc.
• Capital Sales Project Tax. Would it be more feasible to fund one project at a time? All of the projects have been faced with overruns. The Library and the fire stations especially. The Public Works facility was cut from this project, but the facility needs an upgrade.
• Trust and communication between County Council and citizens.
• Assessment of Agricultural Land. Equitable? Owner-occupied homes vs. non-owner occupied homes. Property tax bills consist of fees that come from the County (1/3) and from the school system (2/3).
• What will County Council do with the budget? There is a Budget Work Session on Monday April 23. During this meeting the Council will set the tone of where they will go with the budget. After this meeting the Committee will be able to make a more informed decision of what to recommend to Council. (Should the Fund Balance be restored to where it was or use this surplus for short term relief?)
• The Committee is an objective body of a cross-section of the community to work independently of Council. Before the next meeting the Committee should spend time looking over the Budget Notebook, especially the Line Item Budget section.

Since the Sheriff’s Department is a huge part of the budget, Jerry Wright invited the Committee to take a tour of the building to see the problems associated with it. The Committee agreed to meet at 6:00 pm on Tuesday April 24 at the Sheriff’s Department on Highway 219. After the tour the meeting will move to the Conference Room of the Courthouse Annex at 7:00 p.m.

7. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. by Mike Davenport, Chairperson.