Laurens County’s new $52 Million budget passed this week on a split vote and is designed, in the words of the council chairman, to be “taking care of the people who take care of us.”
In the first budget workshop, administration recommended a 2% cost-of-living raise, and by 3rd and final reading, that had increased to a 3% raise, plus money for longevity increases (one every other year of employment) and promotions increases. The budget adds 9 full-time employees and 3 part-time employees; department heads had asked for 24 full-time and 5 part-time additional employees.
In the end, not all department requests were funded; however, the budget does prevent money from being taken from reserves (the deficit reduction fund) to make the budget balance…