By Stan Welch – The Anderson County Council gave second reading approval to the 2012-2013 budget Tuesday night, with assurances that the sewer debt load and the EMS issues will be addressed at upcoming budget meetings.
Councilwoman Cindy Wilson reiterated her concerns with the enormous debt load placed on the county by having to pay for part of the wastewater system for the city of Anderson. In the last years of the Preston administration , the County agreed to assume a larger and larger share of the cost of upgrading the city’s system, until the burden of debt is almost unmanageable.
“The debt load put on the county in the last months of 2008 is approximately $29 million. If not for the efforts of the Council and the financial staff, this county would be very close to bankrupt,” said Wilson.
County administrator Rusty Burns agreed that the sewer situation is the worst aspect of the budget. “We will have to work through some hard decisions on that. It is very challenging.”
The second reading was passed by a vote of 6-1 with Councilman Eddie Moore opposed.
Council also heard from attortowards making some adjustments.
Chairman Tom Allen began the business portion of the meeting with several minutes of remarks which he readily acknowledged amounted to “cheerleading for the County.” He spoke about the general state of the national economy and how Anderson County has weathered it fairly well.
Among the items he mentioned were that the County has not cut service; has not raised taxes, and has maintained its credit rating. He also mentioned that the groundwork has been laid for the eventual creation of 1700 jobs, and capital investments of approximately $1.7 billion.
He said that unemployment in Anderson County has dropped from 9.8% in February to 8.2% in April, and that the county ranks number five in the state in job creation.
He also pointed out that the tax burden in Anderson County is lower than in many other counties. “There are seven critical taxes that we, as a Council, can impose. They include local accommodations, hospitality, transportation, and other taxes. Anderson County has one of those seven taxes.”
