Fayette's residents

will have one more chance to comment on the county's $44.3 million budget

before it's put to bed for the year.

Last Thursday,

the Fayette County Commission conducted their first public hearing on

the budget and got into a minor tiff over the Development Authority's

budget.

Earlier in

the week, the County Commission had cut the authority's budget request

from $327,000 to $284,000. The commission had cut a $25,000 request for

funds for the Clayton State higher education center in the county, and

also cut $18,000 from the budget because of a rent dispute.

Commissioners

Herb Frady and Linda Wells maintained the Development Authority owes the

county $18,000 a year for rent it receives from the Chamber of Commerce

for use of the old courthouse.

Commissioner

Peter Pfeifer agreed, and the commission cut the budget Wednesday.

But Thursday,

Pfeifer said he had been "misinformed" about some items and

proposed raising the authority's budget to the current year's budget of

just over $304,000.

Commission

chairman Greg Dunn agreed with Pfeifer's motion.

"They

are helping people who lose their jobs and we need economic development

here," he said.

Wells had a

far different assessment of the situation.

"Every

year, there's a special request. We keep giving them more and more. They're

supposed to be self-supporting," Wells said.

Wells' stand

went down in flames by a 3-2 vote with Dunn, Pfeifer and VanLandingham

supporting the increase of the budget.

The general

fund budget proposed for this year is $44,339,487, which is more than

$300,000 less than last year's budget.

The final hearing

on the budget is June 26 at 7 p.m. at the Fayette County Administrative

Complex.