Cumberland adopts $28.4 million budget

CUMBERLAND -- The Cumberland County Board of Supervisors has adopted a $28.4 million budget for the 2010 fiscal year.

The board had intended to adopt a $28.9 million budget but ended up adopting the smaller budget Thursday because that was the one that had been advertised.

The advertised budget did not include some of the county's debt services on the new middle school/high school complex that opened this academic year, county officials said.

The smaller budget is no problem for the county because the Board of Supervisors can made amendments to it in July, board Chairman William Osl Jr. said. "I don't think there is anything going on that we can't wait and do that," he said.

But the supervisors also said they will use the opportunity to continue looking for ways to increase revenue and savings, including considering closing county offices and trash-collection sites one day a week.

The board worked months developing the budget and put off its adoption in mid-April for two weeks so that the supervisors could continue working on it.

The county has implemented a hiring freeze, is not giving raises and has employees "walking around turning off light bulbs," Osl said.

During the meeting, the board asked County Administrator Judy Ownby to send letters to the school system and county departments and agencies outlining the money-saving steps the county has taken and asking those organizations to consider similar measures.

During the April 14 meeting, the board left the county's real estate tax rate at 59 cents per $100 of assessed value and the personal-property tax rate at $4.40 per $100 of assessed value.

Last year, the county set the personal-property tax rate for emergency-services personnel at 1 cent per $100 of assessed value, but this year the board set the rate at $2.20 per $100 of assessed value.

Contact Jamie C. Ruff at (434) 223-3678 or .