The budget

lines have been drawn, and now the battle begins.

Coweta County

Finance Director Rick Smoot unveiled the county's $31.2 million 2002 budget

to the County Commission Tuesday and said it represents a 2.3 percent

increase over this year's budget.

While the budget

is balanced, the commissioners started jousting over several items Smoot

presented.

Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter said he could not support the staff's recommendation

of cutting funds to the Senoia and Grantville libraries to $5,000 each.

He said before

the budget was passed he would suggest the funding be restored to $10,000

for each of the libraries.

The staff had

recommended a cost of living raise of 2 percent for the county employees,

but Hunter said he would support nothing less than a 2.5 percent pay hike.

"That's

what the people are getting who are retired from the county. The working

people should not get less," he said.

The biggest

battle of this budget season will probably be over Sheriff Mike Yeager's

budget.

Yeager's proposed

budget is $8.6 million, which is 7 percent higher than last year's. But

in his budget requests, Yeager asked for 21 new positions, while the staff

only supported six.

The sheriff

also asked for 22 vehicles, including 14 replacements. The staff supported

12.

Commissioner

Jim McGuffey asked if the department heads had seen the budget before

it was presented to the commission. When Smoot said it was traditional

to present it to the commissioners first, McGuffey suggested the department

heads should have a first look at it.

But Hunter,

who served as Coweta's county administrator for years, said Smoot was

doing the proper thing.

"He (Smoot)

is not the person go back and forth and do compromises. It's not supposed

to come here as a compromise," Hunter said.

County Administrator

Theron Gay said the county would hold a public hearing Dec. 18 at 5 p.m.

for department heads to state their case before the county. If another

public hearing is necessary, it would be scheduled before the end of the

year since the county will vote on the budget at its first meeting in

2002.