As Summerville officials look for ways to cut its deficit, some organizations like the local library and Chamber of Commerce may get less money.
The Chattooga County Library is one agency getting less. Librarian Susan Stephens asked the city for $45,000 for the fiscal year 2011-12 budget. The council has tentatively agreed to set the library’s funding level at $36,000.
“If all of the library system’s funding agencies maintain their present funding levels, this will allow the library system to sustain its current level of service to the community,” Stephens said.
The librarian wasn’t sure how Summerville’s reduction would impact her budget.
“We will just have to scale back again. I have not made the final determination of what we will cut back on. We are still looking at our budget,” Stephens said.
The Chamber of Commerce is another area being cut. Its funding level is going from $6,000 a year to $4,860.
“We had to layoff staff and we understand where you are coming from,” Chamber Executive Director David Tidmore told the council in a recent meeting.
The city is looking to balance its upcoming budget. But falling natural gas revenues, among other things, has created an $875,000 deficit.
Reducing the shortfall is promoting councilmen to examine its spending and whether programs are effective. Like the chamber, is it being effective?
“Are you looking at any industry now, talking to anybody to come in?” Councilman David Ford asked Tidmore.
“Mainly what we do is deal with the commercial end,” Tidmore said.
Tidmore says the Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority mainly handles the industrial recruitment but says locals must help do their part by working on local industrial parks.
“I feel like once Volkswagen gets to a certain production capacity, we will see something … That is no guarantee,” Tidmore said about the possibility of a Volkswagen parts manufacture locating in the area.
So far Chattooga has experienced no economic benefit from Volkswagen’s new plant in Chattanooga.
“I think there is going to be a couple more medical related entities to locate downtown. So from that perspective I think it’s come a long way since 2008 when things really hit bottom, right after Mount Vernon had that layoff and we went to 20 percent unemployment,” Tidmore said. “The Lyerly (Mohawk) plant is planning on hiring 50 more…”
Comments