The Fairfield County 2012-2013 Budget is ready for a final reading May 14 at 6 p.m.
“We are the first county in the state to complete our budget process and, for the fifth year in a row, we have gotten it done in May,” said County Clerk to Council Shryll Brown. “That leaves us with a buffer if something came up. We try our best to get it done in May.”
County Council members put the finishing touches on the budget at a workshop Monday evening, which was held at the County’s new EMS Administration Office in the former Hon Building in Winnsboro. The final action was to increase the allocation to the Fairfield Community Food Bank.
“We have added $400 this year to the food bank’s budget, making the total $4,000,” said Council Chairman David Ferguson. “They are bombarded over there with so many people who are out of work.”
County Administrator Phil Hinely told the Council the millage increase in the upcoming budget is three percent and the total millage is 190.47, an increase of 3.16 percent over last year. Millage rates are most often found in personal property taxes, where the expressed millage rate is multiplied by the total taxable value of the property to arrive at the property taxes due.
“If you don’t go up each year, you might have a shortfall in future years.” Hinely said. “This is a reasonable increase. We didn’t make any drastic changes in anything. The biggest thing is a two percent one-time payment to the employees — that is $200,000 — and our fuel costs. We burn a million dollars a year in fuel.”
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(2010-$10,894,258) and (2011 - $11,739,274 (2.) Fairfield continues to lead the State in most County Employees per 1,000 residents with a rate of 11.35 - no one evens comes close to this rate (3.)Fairfield's 2012 FY Budget was $1.5 million more than Kershaw Countys although Kershaw has three times the population - $3.3 million more than Newberry although Newberry has twice the population (FF also paid $2.89 million more in payroll than Newberry) and an amazing $7.9 million more than Chester's Budget. When is Council going to come to the realization that Government taxing and spending does not create jobs or prosperity - if it did then this County would have zero unemployemnt and people knocking down the gates to live here. Unfortunately, the reality is exactly the opposite.