County officials say they haven’t had to cut basic government services due to the recession, but they’re crossing their fingers and hoping things will improve sooner rather than later.

Administrators from Bamberg, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties say they are in relatively good shape at present. However, keeping an eye on the bottom line is more important now than in recent memory.

Orangeburg County Administrator Bill Clark says the 2009-2010 fiscal year budget is more than $1 million less than the level of actual expenditures for fiscal 2008-2009. The lower amount reflects $947,000 in cuts from state aid to county government.

Balancing the budget this year required Orangeburg County to freeze wages, hold off on new capital purchases and reduce department operating budgets for supplies and staff training.

“We will be focused on continued efforts to create and retain local jobs through economic and community development efforts for fiscal year 2010-2011,” Clark said. “We’ll also aggressively pursue state and federal grant funds.”

Whatever shape the county budget takes next year will be largely determined by property tax collections, the majority of which should be accounted for by February.

Orangeburg County Treasurer Steve Summers says figures from the state Department of Revenue show capital sales tax collections are down. The county collected $2,376,637.49 from April-August 2009, compared to $2,416,344.12 during the same period in 2008.

Calhoun County Administrator Lee Prickett says recent investments at Carolina Eastman Chemical Co. and Starbucks have offset state funding cuts but county operating costs are up.

“In the current budget, we did not give any cost-of-living pay raises to employees,” Prickett said. “Our budget is up slightly this year, 1.85 percent, which equals about $190,000. Our biggest increases involved employee health care costs and what we pay for utilities.”

Prickett says local option sales tax revenue is down by about 12 percent during the first two months of the current fiscal year, which began in July. Calhoun County is required to use 71 percent as a credit on property taxes.

“During fiscal 2007-2008, local option tax collections were $597,688,” Prickett said. “In 2008-2009 that figure went up to $604,703, but collections have been off in July and August.”

Bamberg County Administrator Rose Dobson-Elliott says the county has managed, but it has been lucky.

“Some debt came off the books in recent years, such as the jail being paid for,” Dobson-Elliott said. “We also created one position last year by changing up some recycling programs but since grant funds from the state didn’t come through, we never filled it. That saved the salary and benefits for about 15 months.”

Bamberg County also tries to find savings through other means.

“Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve done everything we can to get the citizens to buy into volunteering,” Dobson-Elliott said. “An example of that is a beautification project at the county landfill. Also, any department may be called on to help another department when the need arises.”

In addition to pay freezes and capital purchase delays, tighter local government budgets also mean most local administrators have resorted to few or no service fee increases.

Orangeburg City Administrator John Yow says cuts in the capital portion of the city budget offer a clear picture of the recession’s effects. The city has projected $900,000 in capital expenditures in its fiscal 2009-2010 budget, which begins Oct. 1, compared to $1.2 million last year.

“This has caused the city to alter regular maintenance on its equipment and assets,” Yow said. “We have to make things last longer. Significant changes also had to be made in our medical insurance coverage for current employees and retirees.”

The recession’s most significant effects on local governments have come from Columbia, Yow said. He knows state government is in a financial bind but he says laws regarding state aid weren’t followed.

“In our case, the state could review its assessment on fines,” Yow said. “Many don’t realize that over half of what we collect in tickets goes to the state.”

Clark says the situation could become worse before it gets better.

“It is likely that there will be further cuts from the state,” Clark said. “If this happens, many local governments will have to reduce or eliminate services to the public.”

T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@

timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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