The Chatham County Commission is expected to consider a millage rate increase when it meets Monday for a public hearing to discuss its Fiscal Year 2014 budget.
Staffing needs at the Chatham County Jail, which is undergoing an expansion, are likely to be a major contributor to any spending increases for the county.
Sheriff Al St Lawrence has already recommended an additional 94 positions at a yearly cost of about $7.4 million, the minimal amount he said is needed to safely open the new housing units and move inmates from overcrowded cells.
The budget hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Old Courthouse Building. Lawerence is scheduled to give a presentation regarding the operation and staffing of the expanded jail.
On Friday, commissioners voted 6-3 to approve an additional $6 million line of credit to the Chatham Area Transit’s current $1.7 million line of credit. Commissioners Patrick Farrell, Lori Brady and Dean Kicklighter voted against the measure.
CAT Executive Director Chadwick Reese and board Chairman Pete Liakakis said the transit authority needed the funding to pay its outstanding balance as it ends its management contract next week with Illinois-based Veolia Transportation.
Failure to do so would have put bus service for thousands of riders in jeopardy, they said.
However, some commissioners questioned how CAT officials would be able to repay the money, especially when Chadwick acknowledged the authority hadn’t paid off its line of credit since 2007. He also said CAT’s millage rate would need to be increased by .381 mills (about $10 per year for a $100,000 home) in June to get the authority in good financial shape.
“That’s troubling to me,” said Farrell, of what he described as CAT’s need for credit to pay off its credit debt.
Brady said, “I feel like I’m robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
According to CAT, overall ridership has increased over the past two years by 20 percent, with 2012 being a record year. About 13,000 people use services daily on weekdays, as well as 8,000 on Saturday and 4,000 on Sunday. For 81 percent of passengers, CAT is their primary means of transportation, said Reese.
“They have to use the bus system to go get food, medical assistance and to and from work,” said Liakakis. “It is very, very important that we help the people in our community because if we have to reduce the service of our bus system, it would be very negative to a few thousand people in our community or even more.”
CAT’s current operating budget is approximately $18 million and is funded through ridership fees, local tax revenue and federal funds.
In addition to the millage rate increase, CAT plans to seek alternative federal funding, which would likely require a 20 percent local match. If that proves successful, Reese said, the total line of credit should be repaid in three years.
In other business:
• The commission voted unanimously to approve current budget amendments and transfers — including moving $350,000 from reserves to the general fund, $380,870 from the Special Service District Fund to the Capital Improvement Project Fund and $394,465 from various funds to the CIP fund. Commissioners Farrell and Helen Stone were absent.