Budget committee reallocates $670,000 from school allocation and approves 7% pay plan with department-level distribution

Coffee County’s Budget and Finance Committee voted to withhold $670,000 previously budgeted for the school system and approved a county employee pay raise plan that budgets a 7% increase and gives department heads a pool to distribute among their employees, subject to limits and a required plan submitted to the mayor’s office.

The committee’s action came after extended discussion about fund balances, projected revenue and expenditure estimates, and competing priorities including rural fire protection, the rescue squad and senior services. The committee approved moving the $670,000 away from the school allocation “versus giving it to the school board,” a motion the committee carried after a second and a recorded abstention by a school employee on the committee.

The Committee also approved a motion to budget a 7% pay increase for county employees. That motion was amended during debate so department heads would receive no more than 7% themselves and would receive a pool of funds to divide among their employees; department plans showing how they will distribute the pool must be submitted to the mayor’s office for the record (the mayor’s office will not perform an individual approval). The committee used a show of hands to adopt the amended 7% plan; one commissioner (identified in debate as “Brown”) voted no. The committee directed staff to prepare numbers showing the fiscal impact if the increase were reduced to 5%, or paid as 5% now and 2% later, and to return those figures at follow-up meetings.

Members debated whether to give department heads a smaller guaranteed percentage and let them allocate remaining funds to lower-paid staff, citing fairness and retention concerns. Committee members repeatedly emphasized that insurance and other benefit cost increases reduce the net effect of any salary increase, and asked staff to model different scenarios.

During debate Sheriff and finance staff offered a proposal to use recurring School Resource Officer (SRO) funding to pay off an outstanding Enterprise Fleet lease early; committee members asked staff to provide a buyout figure and the sheriff to provide the detailed salary-line offsets that would free funds to cover some of the cost increases. The committee asked for that payoff estimate and for updated revenue/expenditure comparisons to be emailed to members before the next Budget & Finance meeting.

The committee’s motions were procedural recommendations to the full commission; members discussed how the same items would likely be revisited in the full commission meeting and asked staff to prepare clear documentation so commissioners can explain the committee’s approach on the floor.