Henderson City Council member Garry Daeke remarked to members during Monday’s regularly scheduled meeting that the upcoming fiscal year “will be an equally tough budget year”.
He reminded council members that the fiscal 2010 budget did not give city employees raises, nor did it fill vacant positions.
Two positions that remained vacant after much discussion during last year’s budget deliberations were those of a Henderson fire fighter and a special projects manager.
“My feeling is that we’re going to be doing similar things this year, trying to cut,” Daeke said.
The third-term Ward 3 representative said that he wants to talk about this year’s budget and talk about core services that the city provides. He said that [the city] is not funding everything well and is “hit-and-miss” in how [it] funds things.
Daeke went on to tell members that the council needs to talk about programs it funds with Vance County and “how we want to proceed with those”.
Daeke noted that the council has not negotiated with county on the joint-funding issue as a council. He expressed the hope that the subject could be discussed at the council’s upcoming planning retreat.
Member Mary Emma Evans followed Daeke’s remarks by indicating that “two or three weeks ago” she expressed a desire to discuss joint programs.
“We hear so much talk over the air and in the newspaper,” she said.
Henderson Mayor Pete O’Geary indicated that the budget issue and an insurance issue brought forward by Evans would be included for discussion during the retreat.