Ed Cone passes along a Facebook post from Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen:
For those who heard a giant “thud” about 2 pm followed by complete silence—it was the County manager dropping a $41 million budget deficit estimate primarily from bond debt on the Commissioners and Department Directors.
Thigpen later posts:
The new Board members have (admirably) staked themselves out not to raise taxes, but the problem is voters approved the debt to build schools, jails, parks, etc and to also raise taxes on themselves when they approved the school debt. This whole discussion needs to be packaged and presented differently. It’s putting the new Board on the hook for a responsiblity many of them didn’t create but have to respond.
Exactly—-that’s why they were elected. We can only hope they’ve learned from their initial rookie mistakes.