Enotah circuit officials talk funding

HELEN - Officials with the Enotah Judicial Circuit and White, Lumpkin, Towns and Union counties tackled the circuit's budget Thursday night.

At the beginning of the meeting, held at Unicoi State Park Lodge, county representatives approved the overdue spending plan.

They were then presented with a draft of an updated intergovernmental agreement between the counties which includes establishing a circuit financial director.

Officials also discussed budget funding for the public defender, district attorney and superior court judges. In each case, they were informed about an increase. Much of that dealt with health care and retirement mandates.

Chief Superior Court Judge Murphy Miller shared new non-funded federal mandates that are expected to have a dramatic impact on future budgets.

After the meeting, Union County sole Commissioner Lamar Parris said they have some great challenges keeping the circuit budget within limits.

"It's so frustrating, and you feel so helpless when they keep throwing out that a federal judge came up with this guideline and the legislature came up with this guideline, and we're just sitting here really having to take it," Parris said

"We all work hard at trying to save the taxpayers' money, and then you come to a meeting like this, which is a great meeting by the way, everybody worked cooperatively together, but there's just no end to what's being dumped down on the county level," Parris added.

Officials expect to hold a subcommittee meeting in the next few weeks to fine tune the intergovernmental agreement and examine all aspects of the circuit budget.