Supervisors in Charlotte County have kept busy recently with a series of work sessions regarding the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 county operating budget.

The board of supervisors are considering proposing a budget that includes a 2-percent raise for all county employees. A draft of the proposed 2017-18 budget is expected to be released to the public next week.

According to County Administrator R.B. Clark, there are no tax increases proposed in planning the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.

The current fiscal year’s budget totals about $39 million, and was adopted last year with no tax increases.

Sheriff Thomas D. Jones is proposing an additional 1-percent raise for his employees, totaling a 3-percent overall salary increase for those who work for the sheriff’s department.

“What’d I’d like to do is give my department a 1-percent pay increase with the 2 percent out of that money,” Jones told supervisors during a budget work session.

Jones said the raise would be funded by all state money, and based on vacancy savings, putting over $20,000 in the general fund for the county to use.

About $16,000 would be used to provide the 1-percent raise, Jones said.

Jones described vacancy savings as the time period between losing an employee and the re-hiring to fill the vacancy.

“The state money goes into the general fund every month until I fill that position, he said.” According to Jones, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department has lost 19 people from jail operations in the last five years. The raise is proposed to be competitive with other agencies.

“We want to have good deputies,” said Cullen/Red House Supervisor Dr. Nancy Carwile.

During their work session, supervisors voted to place $16,000 in the proposed budget to make the raise possible.

Clark said the Charlotte County Rescue Squad is included in the proposed budget to receive a suggested $35,000 and $1,000 would be added for Madeline’s House.

“Everybody seems satisfied with that for now,” Clark said.

Based on information presented during a joint budget work session between supervisors and the Charlotte County School Board, additional expenditures of $467,956 and estimated additional revenue of $322,249 could impact the proposed FY 2017-18 budget.

Last year’s fiscal year budget allocated $24 million in local money to the school division.

The projected cost associated with the 2-percent county employee raise would mean $259,590 in additional expenditures.

This fiscal year’s tax levies include real estate and mobile homes being assessed at .53 cents per $100 of assessed value and personal property taxes at $3.75 per $100 assessed value.

A public hearing is set at the Charlotte County Administrator’s Office for Monday, April 24 at 6 p.m. to gather comment regarding the proposed budget.

Once approved, the FY 2017-18 budget will go in effect on July 1.