A plea for

more money from Solicitor Robert Stokely fell on deaf ears Tuesday as

the Coweta County Commission passed its budget for 2003.

Stokely told

the County Commission that he needed approximately $55,000 more in his

budget to hire another assistant prosecutor.

Because of

his limited staff, the solicitor said it was getting more and more difficult

to prosecute all the cases that needed to be done.

"We don't

have the staffing. We're dealing with five vehicular homicide cases this

year that take a large amount of time," he said.

The commission

thanked Stokely for his presentation, but decided not to include his request

in the final budget.

The County

Commission did decide to add $35,000 to Sheriff Mike Yeager's budget for

additional car purchases.

Instead of

taking the money from reserves, the county decided to use SPLOST money

and keep the reserves for other projects that might occur during the year.

The county

also agreed to give most employees a 2.5 percent salary increase. Any

employees who make under $32,000 would get a 3.5 percent increase this

year.