Forsyth Citizens Get First Look at 2012 Budget, Healthcare Issue Shelved

Forsyth County residents got their first look at the county's $92.4 million proposed general fund budget for 2012 at Thursday's Board of Commissioners meeting.

The proposed budget is balanced as required by state law with $92,449,264 in both revenue and expenditures and represents about a 4.9 percent increase over last year.

The county's Fire Fund declined by 2.13 percent to $16,912,931 but that was the exception rather than the rule.

The Solid Waste Fund increased by 62.99 percent since 2011 while Special Services grew by 19 percent. The  showed an overall increase of 4.05 percent, but the operating budget shot up by 35.5 percent.

Water and Sewer, an enterprise fund that operates on the money it collects from the county's water customers, also proposed an increase of 18.64 percent to $40,951,200.

. Chairman Brian Tam exercised his authority as chairman to remove from the agenda a proposal to extend healthcare benefits to elected officials after they leave office.

"I received some communication from my fellow commissioners stating they weren't comfortable with it," Tam explained Friday. "They said they needed more information."

Commissioners could have overrode the chairman's decision by a majority vote and Dist. 5 Commissioner Jim Boff attempted to do so. He made a motion to put the item back on the agenda and Commissioner Todd Levent gave his second, "for the purpose of defeating it." But they were voted down by Tam, and Commissioners Bell and Amos.

Levent, who voted for the extension during the work session, said Friday he changed his mind and wanted to see the issue voted on in the regular meeting. "I wanted it voted on so I could kill it," he said.

The fact that the item was removed from the agenda did not keep citizens from speaking out in opposition to it, however.

Forsyth County Democratic Party Chairwoman called the proposal to extend healthcare benefits to elected officials who are no longer in office ridiculous.

"I don't know where the extra tax revenue is going to come from," she said. "For you to come here and have the audacity to say you want to burden the citizens of this county even more by extending healthcare coverage to elected officials who are no longer in service, that's just ridiculous."

The chairman declined to say whether or not it might be brought back up at a later meeting. "It's not scheduled," he said.