A motion to cut the county funds allocated to the chamber of commerce by $10,000 ended in a split vote Monday night with the Banks County Board of Commissioners instead agreeing to reduce the budget by $5,000.
The BOC debated how much to cut from the chamber during a budget discussion at the regular commission meeting Tuesday night.
“Every other department had to take a reduction this year, so I think we should talk about the possibility here,” commissioner Joe Barefoot said. “I would think we should roll back that budget some.”
Barefoot then made a motion to cut the allocation to the chamber from $27,000 to $17,000. Commissioner Rickey Cain seconded the motion. Commissioners Charles Turk and Ernest Rogers and chairman Milton Dalton voted against the motion.
Turk said he would agree to cut the allocation some but not by $10,000.
“We didn’t cut anybody else that much,” Turk said. “You are cutting 30 percent out.”
Rogers then made a motion to cut the chamber allocation by $5,000 and provide $22,000. Barefoot seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
The BOC agreed to continue to provide $8,000 for the maintenance, repairs and security at the historic courthouse, where the chamber office is located.
OTHER BUDGET TALKS
In other budget matters, the BOC discussed whether to provide $30,000 for reworking the GIS maps. No action was taken on proceeding with this. Rogers did suggest waiting one to two years.
“If we don’t have revenue come in in the next two years, I’m not for it,” Rogers said. “If they can show me a profit for the county, I can go along with it. If not, I’m against it.”
Turk said, “I’m against it period.”
Dalton spoke on problems with the current mapping, including land line parcels running through houses and parcel lines being off by one-half of a mile.
Just rember I will not go away.....so fess up !!!
Tara Fulcher
Banks County Chamber
Historical Courthouse-Homer
706-677-2108