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Lack of building hurting Boyle P&Z

December 15, 2009|By DAVID BROCK

Danville-Boyle County Planning and Zoning Commission is in worse financial shape than expected due to the lack of new building activity.

Danville previously had promised to kick in an additional $10,500 at the beginning of the new fiscal year after P&Z reported a potential $24,000 deficit.

At that time, P&Z was expecting about $60,000 in revenue from permits for the whole year and $30,000 over the first two quarters. But Chairman Gary Chidester told the City Commission on Monday night that activity has been even more sluggish than expected, yielding only about $15,000 in revenue from new building permits.

"We knew it would be tough this year, but the projections were not only wrong, they were bad wrong," Chidester said. "Permit revenue has simply not been there."

Chidester said P&Z likely will need $18,000 more from the city and county each in order to maintain current staffing levels.

The office already has cut its three employees to four days a week, which allowed them to keep their insurance. Chidester said P&Z also has eliminated one meeting a month, redone its liability insurance and avoided legal fees by not having an attorney present at meetings unless it is for a specific reason.

Staff cuts a possibility

Chidester said P&Z has enough money in the bank to make payroll through the end of January. However, if it can't come up with the more than $35,000 it needs, Chidester said staffing cuts will have to be considered.

"Before the city even writes that first ($10,500) check, we need to talk about what we want that office to look like," Chidester said. "We have already reduced hours for all three staff by 20 percent, but anything beyond that and we are talking about significant cuts."

The City Commission declined to make any commitments Monday but asked City Manager Paul Stansbury to look for any way the city could provide more money to keep P&Z going through the end of the year.

Stansbury said he has met with Chidester, but it was difficult to promise more funds when the city is dealing with its own budget perils.

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