Hometown News: » City Evaluates Expenditures


	Talk to us
	Upcoming Promotions
	Local Governments
	High Schools

Site Search


	Blacksburg

	Boiling Springs

	Chesnee

	Greer

	Inman

	Middle Tyger

	Spartanburg

	Whitmire

	Woodruff

	Sports

	Links

	Archives

	Corrections

Who is your pick for S.C. Governor Nikki Hailey (Republican) Vincent Sheheen (Democrat) Morgan Reeves (Green/United Citizens) View Results

City Evaluates Expenditures

By Hale McGranahan
Staff Reporter

The pressing days that lie ahead for officials at Greer City Hall kicked off with a 2009-10 budgeted expenditures workshop Tuesday night.
Before City Council and heads of staff from around the city, City Administrator Ed Driggers said the economic conditions in Greer “are not unlike those across the county and South Carolina.” “For us here in Greer, it’s probably as challenging as it was back in 2000-01,” he said.
As the budget process moves into next Tuesday’s workshop when the budget revenues for next year are presented, council could be looking at a $975,000 deficit since expenditures exceed revenues.
When the current year’s budget (2008-09) was amended, news of revenue shortfalls was almost unheard of in Greer. What was approved as
a $19 million budget is now projected to come in almost $854,000 lower, this after cutting several jobs and trimming some fat. Department
heads were asked to trim even more expenditures for the upcoming budget, which stands at $17,294,111.
Still under a hiring freeze, the budget includes no salary or benefits increases to City of Greer employees. “Our original numbers attempted
for us to be able to do that. The more that we worked through this process, we discovered very quickly that every item had to be scrutinized as much as we possibly could,” Driggers said.
Operations, which make up 30 percent of the budget, saw the biggest amount of cuts compared to personnel and debt. The operations expenses
that were cut include: travel, training, motor vehicle fuel, uniforms, materials and supplies with other related expenses that include street paving, elimination of the city’s lobbying services for state government, mosquito spraying.
The city will separate the sanitation program into an enterprise fund, moving residential garbage, landfill fees, green carts/parts and recycling program that costs $919,200. Some expenses are non-negotiable. “We have increases to the budget when related to rent, health insurance, debt expenses, property insurance, special contracts for our new property, interest expenses and things as simple as physicals, worker’s compensation insurance and other smaller items,” Driggers said.
Once council sees the budgeted revenues, there will be several options to balance the budget. Although each department has decreased its
expenses, they face the possibility of having to tighten the belts to their respective expenses.
“Let’s at least get to next Tuesday and look at our revenue projections then we can begin to talk about where we need to go in terms of moving
forward,” said Mayor Rick Danner, expressing a desire to see the “other piece of the puzzle.”
Driggers told council he hopes they would look at several options in lowering expenditures. Councilman Jay Arrowood would like to see fuel costs reviewed which were budgeted at a projected cost of about $2.40 a gallon. “I would prefer us to err on the high-side,” he said. A one-day employee furlough would

Email This Post

Who is your pick for S.C. Governor