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GREENSBORO — Though several county commissioners are in on talks for the next round of layoffs in Guilford County, Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston said politics are not a part of the discussion.

On Tuesday, Alston confirmed that layoffs are coming early next week but said he did not have figures for the number of jobs or the amount of public money involved.

“That’s not for the Board of Commissioners to make,” Alston said.

He said that interim County Manager Brenda Jones-Fox will make the call on layoffs.

Her list comes from recent budget meetings with department heads, Alston said, and from some consultation with himself and Vice Chairman Steve Arnold.

Arnold and Commissioner Billy Yow have sat in on at least one round of meetings called by Jones-Fox.

Meanwhile, Alston maintains that he should be able to meet with Jones-Fox in private on issues concerning public business.

“I will come to her and close the door,” he said. “She gets to bounce things off me. That’s how it’s always been.”

Alston said he only looks at positions, not individuals, and previously has said he doesn’t have a “hit list” of specific employees targeted for the cuts.

“Ten, 20 percent of the positions, she might talk to me about,” Alston said.

The latest round of layoffs comes a month after cuts in February that affected 35 positions and 10 active employees.

The layoffs — along with early retirements, a deferred bond sale and other cuts — are part of Alston and Arnold’s ongoing mission to create a 2009-10 budget without a property tax rate increase.

The changes so far mean that the expected property tax bill for the owner of a $200,000 home will increase by roughly $50. Before the cuts, the county had expected the same tax bill to increase by about $100.

A committee appointed by Alston also asked department heads to create budgets with cuts of 3 percent and 5 percent. Those were presented to the Board of Commissioners in a work session Tuesday.

Recent cuts have come quickly and without much public warning, despite a pledge from Alston to be open to the public when he was elected chairman.

Although, some commissioners say they are out of the loop.

“It’s not untypical of the way that they have been doing this whole thing,” said Commissioner Kay Cashion of the trickle of information. “And (Alston) doesn’t feel that there’s been any obligation to do that.”

As Alston and Arnold work in a way they say is more hands-on, there’s been much turnover in the county’s top staff. In December, former County Manager David McNeill retired suddenly, followed by quick resignations from Deputy County Manager Ben Brown and County Attorney Sharron Kurtz.

Since then, the county has had three interim county attorneys and laid off its top economic developer.

This week, tax director Francis Kinlaw also announced his retirement, effective in July.

The turnover gives Guilford County a black eye, according to some commissioners.

“We don’t look good across the state,” Cashion said. “People are just shaking their heads and asking, 'What are you doing up there?’ ”

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com