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The Lowndes County Commission met Monday and approved a budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Accepted just one day prior to the new year’s opening on Oct. 1, the new budget was passed with the stipulation that expenditures will be reduced by 5% across the board for all expenses.

The approved budget projects revenue of $16,760,816 based on the county’s 2023-24 income. Projected expenses, initially set at $15,843,957, settled in at $15,065,022.40 after the reduction with the difference to be held in reserves.

The motion to approve the budget with the 5% reduction came from Commissioner Harris, who called the decrease a measure to ensure quality control.

“When we purchase [something], we just take the first number that somebody gives,” Harris said. “There’s no quality control to what’s being purchased. We don’t have no accountability. We don’t show where everything is going, and somebody could… just increase the numbers of whatever they get. So, if we create quality control, then we are able to follow the money and have a better cap on it.”

Commissioners discussed how budget cuts would affect different departments and considered the rising cost of materials and employee benefits. Commissioner Dickson Farrior asked County Engineer David Butts about the impact a 5% budget reduction would have on the highway department. Butts said that likely, by the year’s end, he would be forced to request additional funds to cover expenses.

“We will be back asking the commissioners for additional budget [funding],” Butts said. Ultimately, Commission Chairman Charlie King suggested any department unable to complete the year with the approved budget would need to appear before commissioners to request additional funding.

The motion to approve the budget with a 5% reduction was seconded by Commissioner Joshua Simmons. It passed with a 3-2 vote, with Harris, Simmons, and Commission Chairman Charlie King voting yes. Farrior and Commissioner Joseph Barganier opposed the measure.

Harris’ motion included provision for granting a raise of $1 per hour for all Lowndes County employees. According to County Administrator Jacquelyn Thomas, the raise was paid out on payroll issued Oct. 2. 

Farrior, who opposed the 5% budget cut, said he supported employee pay raises. During the meeting, he proposed a motion to increase the highway department budget to accommodate much-needed raises, but before commissioners could vote, Harris countered with a motion to table the vote. 

Seconded by Simmons, Harris’s counter motion was approved with support from King, Harris and Simmons. Only Farrior and Blankenship opposed the delay.

“I made a motion for salary increases for several people,” Farrior said. “One of them has been a faithful worker who’s been here for 40 years. He’s one of the first ones to arrive and you never catch him sitting down. We wanted to reward him with a pay increase which I think he sorely deserves but [other commissioners] wanted to table that discussion. I can’t really understand what they were thinking.

In a second motion, after much discussion by commissioners, Harris called for remaining COVID funding to be split in half and used to issue bonuses to the employees, once before Nov. 4, 2024 and once in 2025. The measure received unanimous approval.

“The account holds $381,882,” Thomas said. “It will be split in half and each employee will get $1,750 this year, which will be paid next Friday, on Oct. 11.”