County commissioners meet with dept. heads about 2009 budget

Madison County commissioners continued budget talks last Wednesday, meeting with leaders from the EMS, senior center, 911, road department and BOC office.

No votes were taken, no decisions made. The budget session was a chance for department heads to explain their budget proposals and, at times, ask for help.

For instance, 911 director David Camp noted that 62 percent of calls to his office are now via cell phone.

“We used to get one or two calls on a wreck,” he said. “Now, we’re flooded.”

Camp said his dispatchers are overwhelmed with paperwork from increased calls and criminal record checks. He asked for a clerk to help improve record keeping in the department and take some of the data entry burden off his dispatchers.

In a separate matter, county commissioners discussed the price of fuel, a line item that is up $200,000 in the projected 2009 county budget.

Commissioner Stanley Thomas asked road department head Charles Temple if a four-day work week would be feasible. Thomas said that road crews could eliminate travel and time to and from work sites by staying on jobs longer. Temple said his department would do what the BOC decided, but he did not voice enthusiasm for a four-day work week.

“The people of Madison County deserve what they pay for,” said Temple. “They’re used to having someone at the county farm five days a week.”

Thomas said a skeleton crew could remain at the farm on Fridays, but that the bulk of the work each week could be done Monday-Thursday.

The board made no decisions about the four-day week proposal.

The BOC also spoke with EMS director Dwayne Patton Wednesday. Commissioner Mike Youngblood said he’d like to see a new Comer EMS station in the near future.

“We need to get moving on that,” said Youngblood.

Patton agreed to start looking at possible locales for a new Comer station.

The commissioners allotted $270,000 for EMS in this year’s special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) renewal. And some of that money will go towards a new station.

The BOC reviewed the EMS budget for 2009 and agreed that they want to see overtime projections reduced. The budget includes $462,000 in projected overtime costs.

Those overtime costs are largely due to scheduling difficulties. A paramedic works a 24-hour shift. If he works two days in a week, then that’s eight hours of overtime, with a three-day week leading to 32 hours of overtime. Patton said keeping EMS overtime costs down is a challenge, since a number of paramedics work more than one job. He also emphasized that he wants the most experienced, best people available to man county ambulances.

“You don’t just want to fill it (paramedic shifts) with warm bodies,” he told commissioners.

In a separate matter Wednesday, county commissioners reviewed their own expense accounts, agreeing to make some cuts. Commissioner Wesley Jordan, who lost in the Republican primary, said he felt the District 4 allotment should remain about the same. And Commissioner Bruce Scogin, who will face Cathy Livesay in November for the District 5 seat, said he would like to reduce his expenses in 2009 if he is reelected. However, if he loses, then he feels there should be additional money available for BOC training classes.

County clerk Morris Fortson noted that the salary for the BOC chairman won’t be determined until after the November elections. The chairman’s salary is tied to the sheriff’s salary. So, if Sheriff Clayton Lowe, who is in his twelfth year on the job, is reelected, new chairman Anthony Dove will make what Lowe does. If challenger Kip Thomas is elected, Dove will receive an entry-level sheriff’s salary.