CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County offices have to tighten their belts this next fiscal year in order to comply with about $1 million in budget cuts made by the the County Commission.
About three percent will be cut from each office for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
On Tuesday, the Commission heard from five county elected officials on their budget proposals.
Every office requested cuts to their budget including:
Sheriff: $84,430
Prosecutor: $14,653
County Clerk: $25,600
Circuit Clerk: $10,312
Assessor: $3,996
“Everybody was reasonable and understood the big picture and understood that if you’re willing to make a two to three percent cut now, you can keep the county’s finances stable and even,” said commissioner Dave Hardy.
Hardy said they were able to work as a team with these offices to make sure there weren’t any surprises to the cuts.
“We’ve been very slow and steady and because of that, and the fact that we told them way ahead of time that we’re going to make the cut, I think the cuts were relatively painless,” he said.
Without making any predictions of where the county’s future lies, Hardy said one thing they do have to do is watch their severance tax revenue very closely. He said they’ve always had to cut expenses in the past, but this has been the biggest hit so far.
“In my time here, and I’ve been here quite some time, this is the biggest downturn in revenue that we’ve had,” Hardy said.
Commission President Kent Carper said no raises will be given and no layoffs will be made.
Outside agencies could also see cuts to their funding this year. The commission will hear proposals from those agency officials at their Mar. 10 meeting.
The commission is expected to finalize the budget by the end of March.