County commission majority pushes for confrontation over budget cuts

By ROGER AMSDEN, LACONIA DAILY SUN 

LACONIA — Two of the three Belknap County Commissioners say they are willing to risk an election year confrontation with the Belknap County Delegation over the $1 million cut from their proposed budget.

Commission Chairman Dave DeVoy (R-Sanbornton) and Hunter Taylor (R-Alton) last week pressed for going ahead with several projects already in the works and the hiring of a pre-trial coordinator for the Belknap County Corrections Department despite the budget cuts.

But Commissioner Glen Waring (R-Gilmanton) said that going ahead with the spending without first developing a plan for trying to make it through the year within the confines of the $27.9 million budget approved by the delegation is “a reckless way to run the county.”

He maintained at the meeting held last Thursday that the commissioners should work with department heads to see what projects should be prioritized instead of “putting the blinders on and pushing ahead”

DeVoy, who said that he was most concerned by the cuts to the Community Corrections Center, said “I want to make an issue of it.”

He said that the $92,000 shortfall to the CORE program, which is designed to help inmates with drug problems, is something that is the responsibility of the delegation to solve.

DeVoy said that with the primary season and general election coming up this year the budget cuts and actions taken on supplemental appropriation requests could play a big role in the campaigns.

“It will be up to the voters to decide,” said DeVoy.

He was supported by Commissioner Hunter Taylor (R-Alton), who said the budget which the delegation approved ”is the epitome of recklessness”, pointing out that it has already caused the county’s credit rating to be downgraded.

Taylor said the success of Democratic candidates in two recent special elections should be sending a message to his fellow Republicans that “our party needs to have responsible people stepping forward to replace the irresponsible people who created this situation.”

Belknap County Administrator Debra Shackett said that the consequences of running out of money by the end of the fiscal year could result in layoffs for many full-time county employees.

DeVoy said he was confident that the county would realize enough in savings by the end of year to enable the projects to be completed and the hiring of a pre-trial coordinator and wouldn’t result in layoffs.

“We always have a half million dollars left over and I’m going to see that Keith (Corrections Department Superintendent Keith Gray) gets that money,” said DeVoy. “I want to see us moving forward.”

The terms of both Taylor and DeVoy expire in January of 2019. Neither has yet indicated that they will be candidates for re-election.