Williamson County commissioners Cynthia Long and Valerie Covey said the county will likely not add any new positions fiscal year 2020-21 as the county moves forward with budget discussions for during an April 14 meeting.
The court was initially scheduled to meet for a budget meeting April 17 but postponed it two weeks to May 1 to allow elected officials and department heads to modify their requests.
“I’d be hard-pressed to support any new position increases or with very strict scrutiny,” Long said. “I just think we need to radically relook at what those staffing requests were in light of the current situation that we're in.”
Commissioners said they are unsure how the coronavirus pandemic could affect property taxes, which fund much of the county’s operations, or interest rates and benefit costs.
Covey said she is also thinking of the long-term effects the pandemic can have on the economy and small business, adding that she does not see how the county can just go back to business as usual.
She reiterated Long’s sentiments adding that it would be hard for her to support any new jobs or programs until the county understands the long-term effects.
“I'm going to find it hard to support increases of any kind,” Covey said. “We don't know how [coronavirus is] going to impact us.”
