DALTON —
Dalton won’t be directly affected by state budget cuts, says Mayor David Pennington. But Pennington says he’s worried the city may have to step in and fill some of the gaps created by state cuts to other local governments or school systems.
“It doesn’t impact us as much as it does the county or the schools because we get very little money from the state unfortunately,” said Pennington. “We should have been getting more money from the state, not welfare. We send zillions down there.”
Unlike county governments or schools, cities typically don’t receive regular funding from the state government. They may get various grants for different projects, especially transportation-related items. Dalton finance director Cindy Jackson says the only state contract in the 2010 budget, for instance, is $196,656.28 for new high-mast lighting on I-75.
Jackson says such projects funded by such grants aren’t put into the budget until the funding is secured.
Pennington said the biggest impact will probably be street paving funded by the local assistance road program (LARP). LARP pays for raw materials to resurface roads that meet certain standards, with local governments paying for or providing the labor.
“We’ll get about $400,000 this year. That’s not too far down. We haven’t really been hurt that much,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean the budget cuts won’t have an impact, he adds.
“We know as our schools go, our community goes. We may have to step in and help the schools where we can (to help offset their budget cuts),” Pennington said. “I’ve been trying to get the four taxing authorities (the two school systems, the city and the county) together. We’ve got one pile. We may have to give up something to help out another part.”
What could the city do to help the schools?
“I don’t know. Maybe there are some programs. They’ve got to come to us. We aren’t going to cut in,” he said. “But if there’s something that can help realize our vision and we’ve got to help the schools, then we will look at it.”
Local News
May 8, 2010
State budget: Mayor: City may have to help school system
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