“We can’t afford to do extra for you”

The November 8th Public Defender’s budget hearing turned heated, as Public Defender Mike Parham sought increases from the three counties of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit. The request comes at a time when all three counties are struggling financially and making deep cuts into increasingly thinning budgets.

The hearing started with a few words from Appalachian Circuit Public Defender Mike Parham. But, Georgia Public Defender Standards Council Executive Director Travis Sakrison delivered most of the presentation.

“The state benefits went up twice during the session…the percentage increased two different times,”

he told the tri-county board, offering,

“whatever we can do, as well, we want to try to do…to help with the issue.”

However, after reviewing the numbers, the board members disputed the increases.

Gilmer County’s Commission Chair J.C. Sanford explained his county’s position.

“As for Gilmer County is concerned,” he said, “last year and this year, we have took whole departments and cut all their benefits, (have) taken away their health insurance, then benefits…we have closed fire stations…and then we’re mandated by the State to do things that we don’t have the money to do.”

The other counties were also adverse to the request.

“We can’t afford to do extra for you,”

Fannin County Clerk Rita Kirby told Sakrison. Kirby gave an example of part of the increases.

“We’re splitting (between the counties) a $43,000, almost $44,000 admin fee,”

she said. She suggested changing the status of some employees in the Public Defender’s Office from State employees to County employees. Kirby said this would save each county approximately 60 to $70,000. Gilmer County Financial Officer Faye Harvey noted that 27 percent of gross salary is spent on employee health insurance. Kirby chimed in that on a $72,000 salary, the Public Defender’s Office pay almost $20,000 in health insurance.

“That $20,000 is a salary for some of our people,”

she said. Pickens County Finance Director Mechelle Champion highlighted another part of the cost. Champion said that $16,000 is paid out for annual leave. She said,

“we all have caps on our vacation; we don’t even pay out our sick time and then we have this organization that someone gets $16,000 for leave.”

Parham, though, seemed caught off guard by the reaction to the proposed increases. He mentioned that the reason he was there in the first place was in response to a letter he had received from Gilmer County, requesting that the Public Defender’s Office keep the same expenditures as last year. When this was brought up in the discussion, though, Fannin County Clerk Rita Kirby indicated that the same expenditures were not acceptable for her county.

Gilmer County Post 1 Commissioner Will Beattie said that the increases are not acceptable and that Sakrison and Parham would have to go back and look at the numbers. In an effort to compromise, Parham told the Board that he could revise the budget to where it has no increases, but that would require closing the other two offices, meaning the ones in Fannin and Pickens.

As of October, Gilmer County has 765 open cases, Fannin 523, and Pickens 1579.

Watch the 2012 Public Defender Budget Hearing