Jefferson County Mayor Alan Palmieri Calls Press Conference

Jefferson County Mayor Alan PalmieriStaff Photo by Jeff Depew

Jefferson County Mayor Alan Palmieri
Staff Photo by Jeff Depew

Jefferson County Mayor Palmieri held a press conference on Monday morning, June 15, 2015 to address the budget crisis facing Jefferson County. Palmieri stated that though he has historically been included on the agenda for comments, he discovered that he has been left off the agenda for the voting meeting that is to take place tonight, concluding that it is his opposition to the proposed budget that was the cause of the omission. Palmieri produced Jefferson County Commission Rules of Procedure that include order of business and shows under item L. number 1 the County Mayor as an agenda item.

Mayor Palmieri stated that the current budget crisis is a result of “the lack and method of funding the school building project,” expounding on the issue to state that the County could not and can not fund $57 million dollars without a tax increase. He contended that the refusal to increase taxes to answer County debt has resulted in “cuts so deep into County operations that they have actually put vital and emergency services to residents in jeopardy,” noting an understaffed 911 center and an ambulance fleet with half of the ambulances having over 200,000 to 300,000 miles on them.

The Mayor stated that adoption of the current proposed budget will require a “significant” property tax increase next year, and which could result in the need for another bond issuance and more County debt to operate the County and purchase necessary equipment, which he qualified as “financial mismanagement.”

He called on the County Commission to do what is best for Jefferson County, despite any pledge that was made prior to fully realizing the County financial position. Palmieri stated that “Credibility is doing what is right, not keeping your word when you know it is wrong.” He said that such severe cuts to the County Departments could result in some County Departments being shut down. The Mayor noted that $7.5 million dollars have been used from fund balances in the last four years and that the fund balances can not continue to answer the budget deficit.

Mayor Palmieri asked that the County Commission restore funding to the Zoning, Building Inspection, Environmental, IT, 911 and EMS Departments to the amount required to operate with consideration for the 3% cut requested by the County Commission and impose a property tax increase of 10 cents to cover this action and meet the budget deficit without taking from fund balance. He said “10 cents will not get us out of the hole but it will stop the bleeding.”

Source: K. Depew, News Director