Carroll County is in the midst of a budget crisis.
Officials there are trying to figure out how to make up for a roughly $2 million budget shortfall.
This week, the Bank of New Hampshire froze the county’s $4.5 million line of credit, citing concerns over the county possibly declaring bankruptcy.
County officials insist bankruptcy is not an option, and are proposing a supplemental budget to get through the rest of the year.
Daymond Steer is a reporter for the Conway Daily Sun. He joined NHPR's Morning Edition to talk about his reporting on the story.
This seems like a huge shortfall. How did this happen?
There are a number of theories, but a lot of it has to do with a lack of audits going back several years. There’s been a lack of oversight. They didn’t until recently have an administrator to watch the county overall. The commissioners would tell you it had to do with the delegation, which is a group of 15 state representatives, set the revenue bars way too high. And the delegation will say they set the budget based on what they were told by the commissioners. That’s where we are.
The Bank of New Hampshire this week froze the county's $4.5 million line of credit. What's going to be the impact there? Short term, I'm sure they're looking at things like payroll.
I have heard from the treasurer that there's enough to make payroll for this week. But I've also heard from a former commissioner that the county probably has a few weeks left of money. I would say it could get really bad in a month or so.
With the county running out of cash, commissioners recently took action to not pay a $2 million bill to the state and to de-fund some service agencies. What are the details there?
Some of them are favorites of the commission, such as the UNH Cooperative Extension and the Child Advocacy Center, which helps investigate crimes against children. There's a hospice and several others. I think what will happen is if the supplemental budget goes through, those things will be funded. Or if some partial supplemental could get funded and those agencies could get the money. It's really up in the air.
What’s been the reaction from agencies about possibly losing this funding?
I think the Child Advocacy Center was pretty surprised. I also spoke with the Cooperative Extension. They're both eager to make their case and get their funding.
As you alluded to, there’s a proposed $2 million supplemental budget to make up for the shortfall. Where does that stand?
It will probably voted on Aug. 17. It could be earlier, but I think the 17th is the last day they could do it for notification reasons.
Who has the ultimate say on the budget?
The delegation approves the money, which the commissioners manage.
Are there other options being explored?
Yes, but only being explored by some. The delegation seems to want to make cuts into the budget and I think they're looking at roughly $100,000 or $200,000. There might be something they can trim, but by understanding is they can't get to $2 million through cuts, except for freezing the $2 million payment to the Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services, and the funding the service agencies.
