Houston employees get good news at meeting

It was a close call, but Houston County employees will likely be getting a raise.

Houston County Commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker had previously left some doubt on whether a raise would be in budget, considering anemic revenues and rising health insurance costs.

But the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year is now balanced, and it includes a 2-percent cost-of-living allowance for county employees, Stalnaker said at Tuesday’s commission meeting.

“It has been a struggle,” he said of balancing the budget. “It has been the toughest struggle I have been involved with in my tenure on the commission.”

Officials are still working on details of the budget, but Stalnaker said the general fund budget will be at $55.4 million, while the total budget will be $110 million.

The total budget includes county operations funded by fees, such as the landfill and the water system, as well as special purpose sales tax revenue. The total budget last year was $107.8 million, and the general fund was $54.8 million.

Stalnaker said the spending plan does not include a tax increase and does not use reserve funds. When the budget process started, Stalnaker polled the commissioners on whether they had interest in raising taxes to meet rising costs, and all of the members opposed a tax increase.

Stalnaker said the rising cost of health care continues to be among the biggest challenges in balancing the budget.

A public hearing on the budget will be held at the commission’s next regular meeting on June 20 at 6 p.m. at the courthouse annex in Warner Robins. The board is set to adopt the budget at a called meeting at 4 p.m. on June 27 at the same location.

The cost-of-living raise wasn’t the only good news for employees at Tuesday’s meeting. Stalnaker noted that July 4 falls on a Tuesday. He asked the board to approve the Monday before as an additional holiday for employees, and the board did so.

Also, the board moved its meeting that would normally be held on July 4 to July 5.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Houston employees get good news at meeting."