Fayette

County is not getting its fair share of state

funding, a flame of discontent that is fanned by

an "anti-county" governor, county

commissioners say.

"He

[Gov. Roy Barnes] has proven that he has an

anti-county agenda," said County Commission

Chairman Harold Bost during a recent work session

to discuss Fayette's $49 million fiscal year 2000

budget.

spokesman for the governor's office did not

respond to requests for a comment from Barnes or

his staff.

Bost

wasn't alone in his assessment. "The state

is being the bad guy here, but it's our citizens

that are hurting," said Commissioner Linda

Wells. "I don't see how we can continue to

put up with this year after year," chimed in

Commissioner Greg Dunn.

What

set off this particular round of complaints was

the news that state funding for the Physical

Health Department in Fayette has been cut by

$25,861 for fiscal 2000, though state-mandated

services have been increased.

Dunn

said he doesn't necessarily go along with the

idea that Fayette is being short-changed in

general, but he strongly opposes cuts in health

funding.

Merle

Crowe, director of physical health for Fayette,

presented charts showing that Fayette residents

received $3.16 per capita in state health funding

during fiscal 1998, compared with $392.99 spent

for each resident of the city of Decatur. Of ten

jurisdictions shown on Crowe's chart, only DeKalb

fared worse that Fayette, at 40 cents per

resident.

Bost

suggested that the county consider increasing the

fees it charges for such services as flu shots to

make up for an increasing funding gap, and other

commissioners agreed.

But

the group also voted not to fund the shortfall in

this year's county budget. "It's unfortunate

that the Fayette Department of Health gets caught

in the middle of this thing, but as long as we

keep funding it more and more, the state keeps

cutting it," said Bost.

During

the budget process, commissioners numerous times

complained that new state requirements were

increasing the cost of running county government,

but the state has not provided any funding to

cover those costs.

"Can

you spell `unfunded mandates,'" Wells

rhetorically asked a reporter during the budget

meetings.

Commissioners

said they're distrustful of recent state-mandated

increases in the homestead exemption for county

property taxes. State legislators and the

governor have promised to provide state funding

to make up for the money that counties will lose

as a result of the change.

"I'll

have to see it to believe it," said Bost.

Concerning

the physical health cuts, Crowe said local

leaders sent "a flurry of letters" to

the governor, the state Department of Human

Resources and local legislators during the recent

1999 legislative session, urging them not to cut

the funding. "The decision was essentially

to ignore it," she said.

"We

were stonewalled dead, slap, flat cold last

year," agreed county manager Billy Beckett.

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