THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY USPS 428-010 USPS42HH0 Hftford, Prqulmw County, N.C., Thursday, May 21, mi ? 20 CENTS Social Services board approves revised budget m . - . . ? - ? , i ^ : T** Perquimans County Board of P Social Services approved last week a bodget calling (or (142,339 in local ex penditnres lor the department in the toning year. : That budget must now be accepted by the county board of commissioners. I The budget reflects a 3.7 percent rise in County cost for Social Services, up $8,361 over the present year. i-lia budget work session last Tuesday night. Social Services director Paul Gregory teid the county commissioners that he is pleased with the reworked budget. "I (eel real good about it." he said. Gregory had initially sought an in crease of some 9)0,000 in the county's share of spending, but wu able to find areas in which spending could be trim med. "We were able to cut about $12,000 out of it, may $15,000," said Gregory. Lester Simpson, the county com missioners' representative on the social services board, warned that the budget would be tighter than in past years. "There's not as muck in this budget left over as there's been being left ow," Simpson said. In his initial budget, Gregory figured the cost at county participation in Aid to Families with Dependent Children at 159,365. The new budget calls (or 131,112, backed by $3,130 in state equalising funds. The state equalising funds do not ac tually come from county taxes. Gregory also trimmed approximately $3,000 from originally proposed Medicaid spending by using a figure that represent* a S percent increase over this year's projected spending, 957,023. Proposed special assistance spending was also cut by nearly $4,000 by using s state estimate rather than Gregory's own estimate of what the program would cost Gregroy's figure was $30,844, whereas the state had assumed that $17,029 would be required. Aside from the commissioners, the state Department at Human Resources must approve the budget New rales and regulations governing War paint and potter's clay tnu Mulhrt Bill Jennings Into u Indian (top) daring the Sprin* Extravagansa held in the park oa Grubb Street Saturday. Although originally intended u a vehicle for senior dtteni to dtaghy their talents, the event was opened to anyone with a craft to adL Hertford potter Nancy Fletcher and son Clay displayed their hand at the wheel, and displays an ????* from Mnsenni of the Albemarle, pain tings, basket wearing, and needle work. The day wu highlighted by per formances front the Baiter Lites, a square dandng team from Snug Harbor, in additkn to a performance by the Gospel Owl! jinau. (Photos by NOEL TODD MCLAUGHLIN) Rate hike to squeeze EMCs tpany'i latest proposal for raising its wholesale rates could put six North Carolina Electric Membership Cor dbratkmi into a severe "price squeeze" situation this fall, according to N.C. IMC ofllcals. ? ; "We're had price aqaeese situations before, but the EMCs served by Vepco appear to be beaded for the most critical case of this kind that the state's co-ops have faced in the past decade," said Jin Hubbard, executive vice pndlit of f North Carolina IMC, the power supply Tfct EMCs that would be affected by the rate case are AflWmafle EMC; Cape Hatteras EMC, Buxton; Edgncoab arc disproportionately oat of line with the retail ratea of the power supplier. "N.C. EMC has raiaed thia Issue in 1U petition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Com mission hi Washington with regard to the new Vepco rate proposal," he said. In that petition, the statewide generating and tranaalaalon co-op I argues that the rates place the KMCs in an "antt-coapettthre price aqneese lituatica" that threaten to pti them out of business. ' ir Vepco oflidalt, however, maintain that the affect will not be aedramatk. "I think it will have considerably lan (as pect than the KMCs think it wffl have," said JUndy McKeerer , Vepco Sortharn company's service area by about 2L5 percent or (21.1 million a year. N.C. EMC calculations, however, in dicate that the figures will be about 45 percent or 137.1 mUliou a year. "Vepco's figures were calculated from higher base rates, with a deduction for lower fuel costs aa a result of the com pany's mora extensive use of nuclear generating facilities." Brawn said. "We think our figures are tar mora realistic." Be said Vepco may hope to avoU a price sqnosno challenge by the new rates to become <6 opt L t "no company apparently hopes that by then theyH have a ruling from the state utoiites commission on a p raiting rate hlto tor ratal omtonmn to Hmth case wasn't (Bad until late Hearings in the case are set to begin June It and continue into mid-July, and the commission usually takes vacation during August As a result, he said he'd be "very surprised" if a ruling could be issued before Sept 1. Meanwhile. N.C. EMC is seeking a separate FERC hearing on the price squeeze issue alone, with hopes that it can be considered before the details of the new rate schedules are reviewed in McKeever, however, said that with the number ef regulatory agencies and com missions Vepco has to work through, II tinl nhiiuli aB increase to become effective at the same time. '1 bear what they're saying (the EMCa), tat when we go to soak a rate bMsN we ft when the osnt of aervices Increases and makes it neoemary lor as to go," be said. some social services programs are ex pected from the Reagan administration, but Gregory said it could be as long as two years before they take effect. In other matters, Simpson suggested that the commissioners ask the county board of education to trim their KM, 100 budget request by 120,000. Commissioner Charles Ward argued that the figure should be $50,000. Ward felt that due to economic con ditions, the schools should not be in creasing spending. The county has budgeted $642,600 for the preaent year. In another matter, county finance officer D.F. Reed. Jr. adviaed board member* that the water rates would probably have to be increaaed so that the system would continue to pay for itself in the coming year. Board members said they would discuss the need for a new rate schedule with Rivers and Associates, the firm that engineered the water system. County wrestles with tax levy By mike Mclaughlin The Perquimans County Board of Commissioners spent much of their Monday night meeting wrestling with budget figures in an effort to keep the 1M1-1M2 tax rate in line with that of the present year. County finance officer D.F. Reed, Jr., presented estimated budget figures showing a (1.215 tax rate, and an alter nate budget proposal that would require a $1.19 tax levy. The tax levy for the current year was $1.15 per (100 in property valuation. The proposals were based on budget requests from the various departments and agencies the county provides funding for. The commissioners, however, will look for areas in which spending can be reduced this week, and will return to the board room at the county courthouse for a special budget meeting Monday night. Discussion this past Monday night centered around where cuts might be made. Commissioner Charles Ward ad vocated deleting some 14,400 used to help pay for a Farmers Home Adminstration employee. "I don't see why we should be subsidizing FhA," Ward said. Commissioner Lester Simpson said he had discussed the matter with the Chowan County manager, and was told that the Chowan commissioners had also discussed cutting their share of the multi-county position. Ward also argued that the Albemarle Regional Commission should pay more than the )6,000 rent it has budgeted for 3,600 feet of office space. He maintained that the figure should be around $15,000, and said that even at that the county would be losing money on the cost of operating the building. Simpson, however, was skeptical about any chances of raising ARPDCs rent. "That's all we're going to get," he said. Ward responded that the commission, "ought to move, then. "I don't see why we should have to subsidise them $10,000 a year," he said, noting that the commission is a regional concern. Another money saving suggestion came from commissioner Marshall Caddy. Caddy asked whether the com missioners shouldn't just go to the department heads and ask them to trim 5 percent from each of their budget requests. His suggestion, though, was greeted with skepticism. "I think most of them gave us a pretty tight budget," said Simpson. Holding salary increases for county employees to 5 percent instead of the projected 10 percent would save an estimated $10,000, Reed said, a figure that proved tempting to some of the board members. Simpson, though, wu not one of them. "I hate to cut my employees back," he said. But his assertion that recreation should be held to $>0,000, was greeted by silence from other board members. County recreation director Mac Sligh had earlier offereAp no-growth budget request that called (or $30,000 from the county and $10,000 from the Town of Hertford. In the current year, though, the two units of government are sharing the program's coat equally. ' Though board members were probably already aware of R, Reed asserted that there was bo real fat in the budget to cut He said that the $1.1* tax levy was a safe one, "without cutting anybody hack or hurting anybody too bad." Services are the only thing you've got to cut that I know of, said Reed. Ward conceded that the tax rate would probably km to be raised two to throe cents juat to accouut lor rk* And School officials, however, attended the meeting to offer a compromise on their budget request of the previous week. Board of education chairman Clifford Winslow said that the schools would be willing to forego two cents of a requested three cents increase in tax levy if the money could be made up through revenue sharing. "You've had a history of allocating a certain amount of revenue sharing money to the schools," Winslow said. "We would be willing to drop two of our three cents request if you could come up with $20,000 (from revenue sharing)... The bottom line would be the same." Later in the meeting, Winslow said he thought the board of education would agree to an additional one cent cut (approximately $10,000). The schools had sought 1699,600 in funding generated through county tax dollars, up 17 percent from the present year's $642,600. 1D? request m