District 5 Commissioner Billy Parks has been out of pocket for much of the Fiscal Year 2010 budget development as he recovered from heart bypass surgery.

Parks, who formerly served on the Barrow County Airport Authority, was glad to be back for the Sept. 15 meeting of the Airport Authority which the Board of Commissioners was invited to attend.

Airport Authority member Scott Miller provided a presentation about the airport and its value to the community.

"I am glad the new authority members see the importance of the airport. I am glad they realize its potential," said Parks, who expressed apprehension when the new administration made appointments to the authority.

"I am glad they know the airport is a very valuable asset to Barrow County," said Parks. "The FAA wouldn’t have put $3 million into the ILS [Instrument Landing System] if they didn’t see the potential of the airport."

FAA sees the Barrow County Airport as an airport of regional impact.

Miller’s enthusiasm about the airport and its future was evident.

Parks said Miller’s presentation was the best thing he’s heard in some time.

"I am 100 percent for the airport," said Parks.

While Parks is supportive of the airport, he doesn’t see how Barrow County can support the $98,000 salaries of the staff in these economic times.

Commissioner Steve Worley’s budget-related recommendations had included having the airport authority take on those expenses, much like the Barrow County Water Department’s salaries and benefits are paid by the Barrow County Water & Sewerage Authority.

"The airport authority is self-supporting with leases and fuel sales," said Parks, who notes expenses to county facilities could be brought to the commission much like the HVAC repairs for the Winder Library are handled. When Parks was on the airport authority, the air conditioning in the Richard B. Russell Terminal Building was a needed and sizable repair cost which the authority brought to the county commission.

The budget situation requires all to be more frugal and innovative with generating needed funding for projects, equipment and activities which are not essential.

"You need to take a look of everything you can," said Parks.

The Sept. 21 budget hearing set for 6 p.m. will be a chance to comment on the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2010. The commission will then hold a called meeting on Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. to adopt the finalized FY2010 budget and officially set the millage rate.

It is likely the commission should have a preliminary millage rate at the Sept. 22 board meeting if the final revised budget proposal gets a favorable nod after Monday’s budget hearing.

"As far as I know, the only part which remains in question is between the Sheriff’s Office and detention budgets," said Parks, who only received the letter from Sheriff Smith on Thursday. Other commissioners got their letter on Tuesday prior to the airport authority meeting, prompting some commissioners to meet with Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood and Sheriff Smith after that session.

In that letter, the Sheriff appealed for recognition of the compromises already made in the Sheriff’s and detention center budgets.

"My job as the Sheriff is to provide for the safety of the citizens of Barrow County and that is my plan as long as I am Sheriff of this great county," said Smith’s letter. "The bottom line is the Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center must be funded in order to be properly operated."

The suggestion from the Barrow Mayors Association to levy a separate millage rate for funding of the Sheriff’s Office seems to be a moot point as that same issue in Greene County was rejected by the Superior Court. An appeal is possible.

For some commissioners, the Sheriff’s Office and detention center have been spared the budget-cutting knife for personnel while other departments are operating with a bare-bones staff.

"People are asking us, ‘Please don’t raise our taxes’," said Yearwood, who indicates the option will be commissioners dipping $400,000 into reserves to balance the FY2010 budget. "We are trying to save the taxpayers from paying any more taxes in this financial crisis because we know they just don’t have it to pay."

But that’s just a bandage since 91.96 percent of the Sheriff’s Office budget is going toward salaries and benefits, according to Finance Department numbers. To avoid hitting reserves, Yearwood had earlier indicated the equivalent of 40 positions would need to be eliminated. If 20 salaries at approximately $50,000 were shaved, the county would see a $1 million savings.

Yearwood said it may be likely the county will be pulling from its $2.8 million Certificate of Deposit before year’s end if ad valorem taxes, insurance premiums and sales tax revenues don’t arrive in a timely fashion.

For Fiscal Year 2011, the budget planning will grow even more critical if the economy does not begin to rebound. Additional personnel cuts should be anticipated unless citizens are willing to pay for the services.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, the county is seeking to return the late J.B. Sims property back to its AC and AG zoning from R-2 MPD since the development plan has not been vested in the two-year window, according to nearby property owners, who wrote a June 24 letter requesting the action.

Back when the appplication as filed in 2006, the development was determined by the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center, now the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission, not to be in the best interest of the region.

The commission approved the rezoning with seven conditions in a vote which required then-Chairman Doug Garrison to break the 3-3 tie. The special use permit vote was 4-2.

Edna Jackson, who currently serves on the Statham City Council, is requesting acreage adjacent to parcels in the city limits she owns to be annexed in the Statham city limits.

The annexation petition was on the Sept. 15 Statham City Council meeting agenda for a first reading.

Four parcels – one of 4.31 acres, another 13.04-acre tract, a 25-acre tract and a parcel of 55.56 acres – are included in the request.