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In preparation for tomorrow's public hearing, we're breaking down some of the spending issues that commissioners have highlighted so far.

This is an extended look at the piece that will run in tomorrow's paper, with more comments from commissioners and Brenda Jones Fox. As the budget season grinds on, we'll get this stuff in print.

Melvin "Skip" Alston, chairman of the Board of Commissioners

On community groups funding-

"I don't think Brenda would have recommended those if she didn't feel they served a just cause."

On $1.3 million for a new economic development group-

"I think that is something that Brenda has worked out ... there might be more discussion about that at the commissioner work session."

Alston has said before and said again Monday that he would not vote for anything that includes a property tax rate increase in the budget.

Steve Arnold, vice chairman of the Board of Commissioners

On the $1.3 million for commercial development incentives-

"Although the money is in the budget, a policy has yet to be formulated. And we hope to do that before the fiscal year (begins on July 1), and we want to put together an economic devleopment proposal for everyone adding to commercial tax value."

The incentive plan is a departure from the norm for Arnold, who typically opposes most any economic incentives. He also opposes most spending on community groups. Though he has said before in this budget cycle that that non-mandated spending is what often gets commissioners to vote for a budget.

On county spending for retirement funds-

Arnold said that the $3.2 million in increased spending is not solely linked to those employees who were laid off or are retiring early.

"It's all employees currently living and benefiting from county policy ... historically, all county employees they get to take advantage of the health care plan (once they retire)."

Fox, as we said above, has not been able to gather the county's expenses related to those layoffs and early retirements, because that is "a difficult thing to measure."

He also gave the impression that commissioners may already have this year's budget sewn up.

"I don't think commissioners are going to be so willing to spend additional dollars," he said. "And I think commissioners are already looking at next year's budget."

He, Fox and others have said that they expect next year's budget to be tough. Speaking of, Fox, here's what we've heard so far from County Manager Brenda Jones Fox ...

To this point, Fox has led the budget process in a series of meetings with department heads in which they traditionally speak about what gets what spending. And traditionally those meetings are closed to the public.

But this year's set of manager meetings was not traditional, because commissioners sat in on them. Usually when commissioners get involved, it's the public's business. But apparently not for the budget meetings this year.

"Those meetings, if commissioners were in the office and wanted to come in and join in on those meetings - I operate on just a very open door policy - and those were open to the board if they wanted to come … but not open to the public."

And why weren't those meetings public?

"That was not a public meeting, that was my budget meeting," Fox said.

As we've reported here before, there have been numerous meetings that may have ignored the state's open meetings law, particularly this section:

a social meeting or other informal assembly or gathering together of the members of a public body does not constitute an official meeting unless called or held to evade the spirit and purposes of this Article.

The law doesn't seem to address who calls the meeting, or what commissioners talk about, except for this:

Official meeting" means a meeting, assembly, or gathering together at any time or place or the simultaneous communication by conference telephone or other electronic means of a majority of the members of a public body for the purpose of conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting upon or otherwise transacting the public business within the jurisdiction, real or apparent, of the public body.

That's pulled straight from N.C. G.S. 143-318.10 (d) But how that gets interpreted has been an ongoing conversation. Guilford County commissioners and administration appear to believe that their actions have not broken that law.

Moving on, here's what Fox had to say about other parts of the budget ...

On funding the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, which did not apply for funding-

"I looked at it form a historical perspective of agencies that had applied and had received funds or had not received funds ... (the Shakespeare Festival) had requested funds this year and received considerably less ... and I put 50,000 in for them …

"Well, they had not received any in 07-08 I just looked at the historical perspective of the (community groups)."

If commissioners approve current funding for the Shakespeare Festival, it would be the most the theater group will have received since at least the 2005-06 budget, when it received $45,000.

Fox added that she expects most of the discussion from here to focus on school funding and library money, both of which would see cuts.

Now we'll go back to the other commissioners we've spoken to ...

Kay Cashion

She expects some changes to what community groups get funded.

"I think this budget will be tweaked a little differently when it's over," she said, and then spoke about library funding. "That's one area that I want to see readdressed."

And she doesn't expect much uproar over the budget from the public.

"I don't think that you'll get much public fuss because you can hold no tax increase," she said, "That's what they're interested in, no tax increase ... and those calling the shots know that."

Paul Gibson

It's no secret that Gibson has been unhappy with Alston and Arnold lately.

"I certainly cannot support that budget as long as those new (community groups) are in there ... and I certainly wouldn't want to add any new (community groups) in this new budget, and especially in a year as critical and tight as this ... and I have some strong misgivings about the $1.3 million that's in for Steve Arnold's economic incentive plan."

Gibson said that the new money for community groups - about $500,000 - and the money for Arnold's plan could go to libraries or school money that was cut.

"Here's perfect example of one or two commissioners deciding what Guilford County will do," Gibson said.

On money for the new community groups, he said, "it's a bribe to keep Carolyn (Coleman) and Bruce (Davis) interested in this budget."

Neither Coleman nor Davis have returned our attempts to contact them this week via telephone.

John Parks

Parks said that he hopes the schools can make do with the maintenance money that Fox's budget gives, with the promise that the county would be there to back school needs up later.

"The county's always there for money to be requested," he said.

And he appears to support the county employee salary freeze, at least in light of other ways to save.

"The salary freeze is better than furloughing our employees or asking them to take pay cuts," Parks said.

Billy Yow

Yow, never one to sit by idly, has also been outspoken against some of the moves made by Alston and Arnold.

Yow first went to funding for new community groups.

"I'm not happy with doing this when the sheriff's department's requests weren't met and the EMS (request) wasn't met ... is it the public safety or is the community based organizations?"

He asked, adding that he's looking into the budget himself and asking for supporting documents on the budget from the county.

Yow also doesn't seem to support the $1.3 million for Arnold's incentive plan.

"This whole thing has become so convoluted that there's no right or wrong about it ... Steve is pushing the economic incentive thing ... he says he's not really for (community group spending), it's just politics. Are we here for politics or are we here to represent the people and what's right and wrong?"

Yow said he believes that the manager's budget recommendation was not developed by Fox as much as it was by commissioners.

"They will pass all this and they will look back and they will look and laugh ... I think the world of Brenda Fox, but I'm here to tell you that this is not her budget."

Commissioners Kirk Perkins, Carolyn Coleman, Bruce Davis or Mike Winstead have not returned phone calls seeking comment. Linda Shaw emailed us in response to a phone call, but has not yet responded to questions we e-mailed back about the budget.