At a special meeting of the Union County Board of Commissioners recently, officials called on office holders to continue their careful spending.
Board chair Richard Cunningham says the ongoing budget stalemate is putting the county in a precarious position. He says the county is currently picking up about $60,000 a month in payments it should be receiving from the state. Cunningham says officials are trying to figure out the best options, but ultimately, the largest expense for the county is in personnel.
"And the last thing we want to do is layoff employees or anything else. But, the state is putting us in a position that you may not have any choice. We're hoping we don't reach that point. But, unless something (happens), eventually we will."
Cunningham says another worry is that things won't get a lot better even once a new budget is finally approved.
"We're also hearing rumors that when they do come up with a budget, there's going to be a pot of money there from money the state has withheld and not distributed...and are they going to keep some of that money? There's just so many unanswered questions."
Cunningham says it's not all bad news for Union County. He says getting property taxes out on time helped cover the lack of reimbursements from the state. He says higher than expected payments in sales, income and use taxes is also helping.