VALDOSTA — In most households, you must earn more than you spend.  Though that is not the case with the Federal Government, it is for County Leaders as they face a $7 million revenue shortfall.

Lowndes County Commissioners and Department Heads have been debating ways to trim the current proposed $58 million county budget down to the $51 million available in the operational budget.  That’s a massive chasm.

Essential services the county must provide, like prosecution of criminals through the District Attorney’s Office, face almost impossible choices. The District Attorney had promised employees a raise and had requested additional funds.

District Attorney David Miller of the Southern Judicial Circuit Court told WCTV, “To think somebody right out of law school with both of them having a $100,000 to $120,000 in student loans can only have a $3,000 pay differential, that’s just ridiculous to think you’d be able to retain people.”

Jim Galloway, director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority, noted to WCTV in the same report, “The Transportation Security Administration would reimburse the City of Valdosta for providing law enforcement officers to the airport and that money has decreased, and so we have added the cost of law enforcement officers into our budget request this year.”

If these cuts can’t be made while maintaining required services, the County will be forced to consider other ways to bridge the gap, including an increase in the millage rate.  The County must have the budget finalized by early June.