Gwinnett County will cancel a building project and rely more on part-time deputies to provide security at the courthouse as it continues to seek ways to cut spending.
The County Commission Tuesday approved several measures that, taken together, will save nearly $16 million. But the general public probably won’t notice. Deputy County Administrator Aaron Bovos said the cuts will not affect county services.
The commission voted to cancel plans to build or buy a facility for one or more social service agencies that receive money from the county. Gwinnett’s general fund budget included $15.8 million for the project.
The commission also voted to restore $384,148 in funding to the GRN Community Service Board that it had cut earlier this year. The Gwinnett-Rockdale-Newton mental health agency will use the money to help pay for rent at two existing facilities.
Those moves will mean a net decrease of about $15.4 million in general fund spending.
The commission also voted to reduce general fund spending by another $530,999. The largest part of the savings would come from reducing the general fund subsidy for county transit services by $397,983. The transit service instead will tap its reserve funds to cover the lost general fund revenue.
In addition, the county water department would lose one vacant position. And the sheriff’s department would use part-time deputies to provide courthouse security in some circumstances, instead of relying on overtime.
The moves are the latest in a series of budget adjustments the commissioners have made since they approved a $448.6 million general fund budget in January. The original budget included an $18 million deficit, which has since been eliminated.
The commissioners have cut spending by furloughing employees, freezing hiring and eliminating vacant positions. They also have raised revenue by increasing ambulance fees and using a property tax levy originally intended for library and road improvements to cover county operating costs.
Though this year’s deficit has been eliminated, county officials expect property tax revenue to continue to decline along with property values. They expect next year’s budget to be as difficult as this year’s and want to reduce spending now, rather than wait.
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