Coweta County

commissioners reiterated last week that they will accept nothing short

of a balanced budget.

County Administrator

Theron Gay told the commissioners that the county is starting its budget

preparations and is starting to see that the requests could exceed the

county's tax collections.

Gay said he

thought the commission favored a balanced budget, but wanted to make sure

before the county's employees get too far into budget discussions.

"I can

tell you right now, I won't vote for a budget that's not balanced,"

said Commissioner Jim McGuffey.

The other commissioners

agreed with McGuffey and said if special projects come along, they would

be willing to examine those on an as-needed basis.

Commission

Chairman Vernon "Mutt" Hunter said he had worked too hard in

getting the county's finances in shape to approve an unbalanced budget.

The commission

will have budget discussions in December and vote on the new budget at

the end of December or the first of January.